


Till the Clock Strikes Six

by Chef_babe



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types, Warehouse 13
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-04-27 03:46:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 27
Words: 61,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5032534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chef_babe/pseuds/Chef_babe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A week before her wedding to Kyoya, Haruhi is thrown in to a world that she is unprepared for when she wakes up one morning and finds that all of her friends and her fiancé have forgotten who she is. Now she has one week to track down what is causing this to happen. But even though she has help from two American secret service Agents, will she be able to restore her world order before time runs out? (Cross over Ouran High school Host club and Warehouse 13. Brief description in first chapter) I do not own either: Ouran belongs to Bisco Hatori and Warehouse 13 belongs to Universal Studios.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Inro

Hey, everyone I just wanted to take a moment to explain a few things. This story is a crossover and the fandoms are Ouran High School Host club and Warehouse 13. Below I am providing a brief description of each including the main characters, but be warned this story and some of the descriptions and contains spoilers for both fandoms.

You have been warned…..

**Ouran High School Host club: Anime and Manga**

**Haruhi Fujioka, is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, in Bunkyo, Tokyo. While looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles in to the third music room which is home to the elite Ouran High School Host club. The Host club is made up of the schools six most handsome boys who entertain their female clients. Upon first meeting the club Haruhi accidentally breaks an antique vase worth 800,000 yen. In order to pay off the debt Haruhi is forced to become a member of the host club and entertain the ladies as the “natural” host. There is just one slight issue….. Haruhi is a girl.**

**This story takes place after the Anime and Manga have ended; there are slight changes in the manga plot mostly with what happens after the Fair.**

**Haruhi Fujioka: the Natural type Host, Haruhi is the only girl in the host club. She is from a middle class family, to which the boys often refer to her as poor and a commoner. She is at Ouran on scholarship and is hoping to follow in her deceased mother’s footsteps and become a lawyer.  She firmly believes that one’s gender should not define ones choices.  Her father Ryoji (aka Ranka) is a cross dresser and has worked at a tranny bar to make ends meet. Haruhi is straightforward and blunt, and was never easily swayed by the charms of the hosts. She is often seen as apathetic and rather oblivious when it comes to her own emotions.**

**Tamaki Suoh: The Prince type host, he is the Host club president. The illegitimate son of the chairman of Ouran academy, Tamaki spent the first half of his life living with his mother in France. When he was fourteen his grandmother offered to allow him to come to Japan and learn the family business while his mother was provided for, as Tamaki’s father had no other children. Due to his mother’s declining health Tamaki agree. His grandmother openly disapproved of everything he did, often calling him a ‘filthy child’. As such, what Tamaki wanted most was a family and once Haruhi joined the host club he  deluded himself in to believe that the host club was his family; him being the father, Kyoya being the mother, Haruhi their daughter, the twins their sons, and Honey and Mori being the neighbors. Despite his harsh home life, Tamaki is overly optimistic, flamboyant, egotistical and dramatic. He is overly affectionate with his guests, but once the guest leaves he is overly seeking attention and prone to bouts of depression that end almost as fast as they start.**

**Kyoya Ootori: The cool type, he is the vice president of the host club. He is rarely seen without a laptop or notebook and is constantly adding various charges to Haruhi’s debt. Despite only being the vice president he is often the one seen as the true puppet master and has received the nickname ‘shadow king’ because of this. As the third son in his family, he has been brought up to believe that he would never be able to surpass his brothers and claim the title of heir to his father’s company, a title he wants desperately. So Kyoya does everything within his power to do so. He is generally calm, logical, and has superior intelligence and often comes off as detached and threating when need be. Thought he only claims to help people when it is of benefit to him, Haruhi is able to see beyond the mask he hides behind and see that he genuinely care for others.**

**  
Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin: The twin devil type hosts, Hikaru is the elder and Kaoru is the younger of the identical twins. The boys were famous for their “brotherly love” act, which was them acting out their twinsect act for their customers. Kaoru is the most mature and level headed of the twins. While Hikaru is hot headed and prone to be more dependent on his brother. Often when separated from Hikaru, Kaoru is shown to be caring and compassionate. Often Kaoru has given way to his brother’s wants. Whereas Hikaru can be childish and over possessive of the host club members, often acting out rashly whenever they seem to be making friends with people outside of the group. The boys had closed themselves off from the rest of the world and often played the “‘which one is Hikaru?’ game”: in which they would stand next to each other and have people guess who is who. Upon first meeting them, Haruhi is the only one who has ever been able to tell them apart. She states that though they looked similar, they were in no way identical. After a while Kaoru was the first one to accept that they had to grown apart and expanded their world, with Hikaru dragging his feet trying to keep things as they were.**

**Mitsukuni (Honey) Haninozuka: The boy Lolita type host, despite his appearance Honey is the eldest member of the host club. He loves cake, cute things, and bunnies, and is often seen carrying around a pink stuffed rabbit that his grandmother made called Usa-chan. Despite his small size, Honey is a martial arts Champion and next in line to run his family’s Dojo. He is constantly in the company of his cousin, Takashi. Despite his generally positive nature, he angers easily when awaken early or whenever his friends are in danger. The twins and Tamaki often refer this shift as “Dark Honey.”**

**Takashi (Mori) Morinozuka: The Wild type host. Despite what his host type would say, Takashi is a quiet and withdrawn individual. He is constantly in the company of his cousin Honey, who he always looks out for and attends to his wishes. He is a National Kendo Champion. Despite his quiet nature, Mori is very observant and always aware of his surroundings.  His overly protective nature extends to his friends, and family.**

**Warehouse 13: TV show, Syfy network**

**After saving the life of the President in Washington D.C., a pair of Secret Service Agents are whisked away to a covert location in South Dakota. Warehouse 13 is a massive top secret storage facility that houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir ever collected. Now the pair, off the cuff Agent Pete Latimer and by-the-book Agent Myka Bering must chase down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in search of new objects to safeguard at the warehouse.  Your ticket to endless wonder begins here.**

**This story tacks place after the series finale but before the epilogue scene. Mrs. Fredrick is still around but Claudia has taken a bigger role as the next caretaker.**

**Myka Bering: Myka has a strong desire to control things, and likes to do things by the book. She likes puzzles, and after growing up in a small family owned book store is well versed in many subjects. Growing up a tomboy, she has always been tough.  She often says that she doesn’t eat sugar but could always be found munching on twizzlers when she was stressed.**

**Pete Latimer:  Pete is very intuitive, often jumping in to situations before he thinks. He is quite the jokester and is often cracking jokes. He is extremely easy going but often gets board when forced to sit still for too long. Despite his jovial nature he takes his job very seriously and will often do everything in his power to protect the people he cares about.**

**Claudia Donovan: She got involved in the warehouse when her brother found Rheticus’s compass and tried to recreate his experiments (Human teleportation). After learning about sensitive information on the warehouse Artie was given an ultimatum hire her or ‘deal with her’. She is the youngest in the group and often seen trying to improve upon the system in place. She is a tech genius and expert computer hacker.**

**Leena: Leena has the ability to ‘Read’ the auras of people and objects. Her job at the warehouse was to organize the objects in a way that they wouldn’t react to each other. Artie bows to her expertise in these matters often mumbling “if Leena agrees”.  During the show, she is killed in the line of duty, and has occasionally appeared to each of the agents when needed.**

**Mrs. Fredrick: She is the director and caretaker of warehouse 13. Her exact age is unknown as there have been pictures of her dated back in the 1950’s looking identical to how she looks now. She has an uncanny ability to appear and disappear suddenly. As the caretaker, she has a strange connection to the warehouse and as such is affected when things go array. She is as intuitive as Pete and often has the same vibes he does.**

**  
Artie Nielsen: Artie serves as the warehouse custodian. It’s his job to find instances where there could be artifacts in play and send off the agents to retrieve them. He is rather secretive, often only giving the bare minimum information before sending out his team. He is stubborn and often will abruptly end a conversation when he has a “eureka” moment about an artifact.  He prefers the old fashioned way of doing things, mostly because they are familiar, not because he likes them better. He is often seen arguing with Claudia as she tries to bring the warehouse in to the new age. Claudia even once said, “He would have vetoed fire if he’d been born a few years earlier”.**

 

For the purposes of clarity throughout this story, there will be several instances where the characters will speak in different languages.  Whenever the writing is in **bold** it’s in **English** and if in normal print Japanese. And any _Thoughts and flashbacks_ are in _Italics._


	2. The Party

"Kyoya what are we doing here?" Haruhi asked as they walked up to the darkened restaurant.  He had unexpectedly picked her up from her last class and demanded to take her out to dinner.   _I have two papers to work on and midterm to study for I do not have time for this, s_ he thought as she turned and face the former cool type host.

"Well open the door and find out," he said smoothly but she could tell how annoyed he was.

"This is Tamaki's doing isn't it?" She asked crossing her arms the diamond and sapphire ring on her left hand glittering under the street light.

"I am not at liberty to say,” he answered in his host tone. _Yep this whole plan stinks of Tamaki._

"Well I am not opening that door" she said pointing at it, "Until you tell me why we are here."

"Well it’s your birthday," he said trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible.

"Yes and I still fail to see what the point is? Kyoya, you know I need to get ahead on my school work for the next week so tell me what is going on,” she spat out frustrated. With the crappie day she had been having this was just the thing to set her over board.

"My dear just open the door."

 Now he was pissed at her, after seven years together. She knew that the only time he ever used a pet name for her was when he was cross about something.

"How much badgering did it take this time?"

Shaking his head, he tried not to answer but the brunette girl could see through every single one of his masks. Crossing her arms again they both stood there for several moments before the shadow king breathed a restrained sign and began to speak.

"He kept interrupting the closing on the new tower I acquired,” he finally admitted.

  _I swear she is the only one who can pull anything out of me; not even that blonde idiot can_. Kyoya thought as he stared down at the small girl though she hadn’t grown an inch, once she reached college she had finally filled out. _I doubt that we would be able to pass her off as a boy now._ He thought as he stared at her slim curves.

"How many times?"  She asked, knowing full well what Tamaki was capable of when he was determined to talk to someone.

"I ignored his first ten calls and then he called my secretary another fifteen times until she interrupted the meeting,” Kyoya replied, anger seeping in to his tone as he remembered the very confused looks of his guest at the constant intrusions, O _h he is still going to pay for that._

 "Please tell me you didn't fire her!" she exhaled. The last four had all been fired for much less. Haruhi had personally hired his newest one hoping that because she had at one time been a nanny for a family with three toddlers she would be able to handle the host club… well at least three of its members.

"No not at all. Especially because at the same time she was keeping the twins away as well. I am surprised she lasted that long," he thought out loud.

"Dear god," she pleaded as she buried her face in the palms of her hands, "Please remind me why we stayed friends with them?" she asked through her fingers.

"Well they are your friends," he said with a chuckle.

 "They were yours first,” she pointed out as she once again crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Yes but I have the feeling that if it wasn't for you I would have been able to live in peace without them," any humor that was once in his voice was gone now.

"So are you saying that this is my fault?"  She asked hoping that he wasn’t going to answer the way she thought he was going to.

"More or less"

 "Kyoya,” she warned. They both new that if they fought any longer about this, one or both of them would storm away from the other, and seeing as there was a group of their friend probably ease dropping on this conversation right now, Kyoya decide it was time to just end it then.

 "Haruhi, just open the door you know you’re going to anyway," breathing a sigh of defeat she walked to the door.

 "This isn't over," she spoke without turning around as she walked through the door.

 "Surprise!" several voices called out as the once dark room was lit revealing all of her friends.  The small restaurant had been bought out, and they had the tables removed and for whatever reason had brought in couches. The room itself was reminiscent of th e old club room. Wrapped parcels lined the back wall, apparently her wish that they didn’t buy her anything for her birthday this year went on deaf ears.

"Happy birthday my dear daughter," Tamaki called as he ran forward to crush the small girl in a hug, but was pulled back by a delicately manicured hand.

 "Dear, I thought you said you would wait ten minutes before giving her a hug,” a calm but irritated voice cooed as she pulled the host club king back by the ear.

“Yeah tonto she is our toy, we get the first hug," the twins called as they wrapped their arms around the small girl.

"I thought I told you two to stop referring to my fiancée as your toy," Kyoya spoke in his most threatening tone as he gripped his and Haruhi’s jackets as he was hanging them on the coat rack.

 "True, but right now you are all bark and no bite," Hikaru spoke nuzzling his cheek in to her’s.

 "Yeah after all, with only a week left till the wedding, it’s too late for Haruhi to find another dress," Kauru teased copying his brother’s actions, both boys gasped as they were pulled back.

"Sorry about that Haru, hey I know it’s your birthday but I have a few questions about the menu **,** " a thin blonde asked in shaky Japanese stepping forward and pulling the brunette to the safe space surrounded but all of the girls.

"Hikaru, it is her birthday, can you at least ask your wife to stop with the questions?" The shadow king asked as he watched the blond go in to an overly animated explanation of what ever dish she was trying to add to the reception’s menu.

"Nope, Emma is a little obsessed. This is the first big catering job and she wants it to be perfect. I have tried so many different dishes I think I gained twenty pounds," Hikaru said patting his stomach. 

"Brother that is what you get for marring a chef," Kauru laughed as he thought about the five course meal she had made when she was introduced to the family.

"Yeah well at least she has Honey help her taste the cake."  Hikaru said thinking about the counter full of pasties at their house.

"No arguments here Hika-chan your wife's cake is amazing!" the martial artist spoke coming up to the group. Once he had entered university the small boy had hit growth spurt. Thought he was not as tall as the twins he at least came up to their shoulders.

"Honey I believe congratulations are in order. Haruhi and I received the announcement about your wife's pregnancy."

 "Yeah! Reiko, and I are so excited.” he smiled fondly at his wife as he watched Haruhi and Reiko talk as they were both surrounded by the others. "What about you Kau-chan any plans on proposing?"

The younger twin paused looking over at his girlfriend of two years. She was busy talking to Tamaki’s girlfriend and he watched as the former king wiggled out of her grasp and walked towards the wait staff.

"Yeah but I am having trouble finding a ring and after the stunt that Hikaru and Emma pulled mom threatened me with in an inch of my life if I did the same," he joked as his brother walked up to the group of girls coming up behind his wife and wrapping his arms around her midsection.

 It was a shock initially, they had only been dating three months and then all of a sudden they were married. The media went crazy and so did their mother, but at least now eight months later everyone had calmed down.

 "You could always just have Hikaru design a ring," Tamaki spoke as he joined his group of friends.

"No I want to do this separate. So Boss, I know that ring you have is burning a hole in your pocket when are you proposing?" Kauru asked slyly as Tamaki was absorbed with watching his girlfriend approach the group.

 " **Marie, you have to help me convince Haruhi that the quail with the pear reduction is the way to go** ," Emma called over as the thin brunette approached the group.

 " **Oui! The dish is impeccable, but I must say Emma you’re going to an awful lot of trouble. After all knowing Haruhi she would be happy with a platter of fancy tuna**."  The woman’s French accent very clear as she spoke in English, as Emma was having difficulty picking up Japanese.

“ **Hey, I am using this event to hopefully get a lot more clients so I can expand so everything has to be perfect** ,” Emma said as a tall brunette walked up beside her and greeted the guest of Honor. “ **Hanna perfect timing did you get those edible flowers I was looking for?** ”

“ **Yes, Takashi has them in the car** ,” she said quietly, as she fidgeted nervously.

“So Hanna how do you like it here in Japan?” Haruhi asked pulling the quiet girl away from the crowd and towards her husband. Once there the gentle giant wrapped an arm around her waist, the instant she is back in contact with him the fidgeting stopped.

“It’s not easy but Taka is taking very good care of me and of course if it wasn’t for you I would have anything to do.”  In the six months that Hanna had lived in Japan, Haruhi had made it her mission to help the girl adjust; the pair has been nearly inseparable.

“It’s no problem,” Haruhi smiled at the girl as she felt arms wrap around her back.

“Aww it’s like watching a kid take care of a baby bird,” a female voice spoke as a cheek was nuzzled against the female host’s own.

“Satchi, must you do that?” Haruhi asked as she stood stark still.

“My mean boyfriend is talking to his friends and ignoring me so you must be the one to entertain me,” Satchi said with a pout as she loosened her grip on Haruhi.

“Just because Kauru is busy doesn’t mean I have to entertain you. “

“You did in college.”  Satchi nudged her shoulder.

“Just because we shared a dorm room freshman and sophomore year does not mean I have to entertain you now. “

 Hanna giggled at the exchange as a red haired man came up behind the pair and snatching Satchi up placing her on his shoulder.

“Sorry Haruhi I am going to borrow my girlfriend for a moment,” he said calmly as the girl in question wiggled in his grasp trying to escape.

* * *

 

After several hours, an exhausted Haruhi and Kyoya stepped in to the waiting limo outside of the restaurant.

“Well I hope you had fun tonight because it looks like the next week is going to be very busy,” the girl spoke as the car began to move. _I am exhausted I guess those papers are going to have to wait until tomorrow._

“Yes, but just think by this time next week you will be Mrs. Ootori,” Kyoya smiled as he pulled his bride to be in to his arms. “And then we will be in Aruba for a week.”

“Yes it will be fun to have some time to ourselves. I must say it seemed like a good idea at the time but maybe we shouldn’t have used our friends as our vendors for the wedding.”

 Kyoya laughed and Haruhi snuggled into his chest felling his body shake against her own as she breathed in his familiar scent.

“No, they would have been hurt had you not and you could never hurt them like that.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said as the limo stopped in front of her dad’s apartment but neither moved to get out.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come home?” he asked. Once he proposed the couple had gotten an apartment that was close to the university and the Ootori Hospital towers where Kyoya worked. Reluctantly Haruhi sat up and walked out followed by her fiancée.

“Yeah, it will just be for a week. And then I am never leaving again,” she said turning around and smiling.

“Promise?” Kyoya said looking down at the big brown eyes that could make him beg for mercy. _She is the only one that ever could_ , he thought.

“I promise,” she said as the couple came together in a searing kiss. Though neither were as innocent as they once were, the couple had decided to refrain from sleeping together till after the wedding.  Though as the kiss continued both fought back the urge to pull the other up towards the empty apartment and finally ravage each other like the used to.  Finally, sensing the last bit of his sanity grasping at the ledge of his mind, Kyoya pulled away keeping Haruhi close to his burning body. 

“You know, it’s getting harder and harder to leave you every night,” He whispered seductively into her ear, his hot breath cooled in the night air while his teeth toyed with her ear lobe. Haruhi gasped as she clung to the man that was making her weak at the knees.

“Kyoya if we don’t stop now we are going to have sex in this limo,” she said with a moan as his hungry mouth made it way down her neck and biting in to the soft flesh as his hands went to the hem of her shirt and grabbed on to her hips pulling them towards his own.

“Promise?” he moaned pinning her between himself and the car. She raked her nails down his back causing him to gasp in pleasure as their tongues battled for dominance. Finally relenting to him Haruhi gasped as she felt the slight tug on her bottom lip as he captured it between his teeth.

“It’s only for one more week,” she said but making no effort to move as her fiancée began to nip and her jaw.

“My dear it has been four month and six days. I could barely get any work done because of this distraction,” he said grinding himself against her. She gasped and then moaned feeling him so close to where she wanted him and internally debating on whether she should just give in or hold strong.

“We have lasted this long,” she said unconvincingly. _Dad is still out of the country for another couple of days._ Sensing that it was now or never Haruhi moved away and turned around so she was facing her soon to be husband. He was now leaning up against the car his body ridged and he was breathing heavily. His dark hungry eyes glanced up and down her body letting her know that she was the only thing that would satisfy him and if given the chance he would bring her over the precipice of pleasure with him.

This was the Kyoya that he had always held behind his mask. The overly passionate man that only ever held eyes for her, it took a while for him to admit it and even longer for her to see it, but there it was staring at her like she was prey.  She smiled softly knowing that she was the only one that had this power over him. She could demand anything of him and he would do it gladly. Then again the fact that she would never do that was one of the reasons he loved her. “Kyoya I have to go up to that apartment alone.” She said her voice wavering.

“You don’t sound too sure,” his voice was filled with lust and desire.  

“Well I am,” she said more firmly, as her once heated body began to cool. Standing up straight, Kyoya closed the gap between them. Taking the back of her head into his hand he pulled her face up to look at him. His eyes still burning but she noticed that they had began to cool.

“I’ll make you regret this,” he said suggestively as he removed his hand and walked towards the car door.

“I am counting on it,” she called back and, looking over his shoulder he smirked.

She watched him climb into the limo and drive off, never moving from where she was standing. After the car had disappeared from her sight she walked up towards the apartment. On the mat in front of the door was a small package.

Opening the apartment door and taking her shoes off she saw the postage said that it was form Amsterdam. _Must be from dad,_ Haruhi thought as she locked the door and placed the package on the table, grabbing a pair of scissors she opened the package and found a note.

_Haruhi, I found this in a market here and thought it would be the perfect groom’s gift for Kyoya. Not that he really needs one since he is lucky I am letting him marry my only daughter. But any way have it wrapped for me. Love Dad._  She chuckled at the note and opened the small box. Inside was a beautiful antique pocket watch opening it up she ran her fingers over the aged glass.

“Thanks dad this is perfect,” she said out loud. Setting the watch back in the box she brought it into her bed room.

_Meanwhile in Amsterdam…_

 “ **I am so sorry, but I have already sent that watch to my daughter in Japan** ,” Ranka smiled at the pair that sat with him at the bar.

“ **That’s okay** ,” the young woman said as she got up to leave pulling her partner with her. Once they were back on the street she pulled out a metal box. Opening it up it made a metallic ring tone as a face appeared on it small screen “ **Artie it’s too late the watch isn’t in Amsterdam any more, but I know where it is.** ”

“ **Yep and I plan on eating some sushi when I get there** ,” Her partner interjected moving her hands so he could see the person on the line.

“ **Just shut up** ,” she said placing her hand over his mouth. “ **Artie we are going to Japan**.”

As she shut the strange device she felt her hand become very moist removing it from her partner’s mouth she wiped it on his shirt. “ **Really Pete?”**


	3. What's Going On?

"Good, that’s finally done," Haruhi said to herself. She had spent most of the day studying and writing the papers she needed to finish for school. Looking at the clock she was surprised, "It's five o'clock. And no phone call or text messages.”

Looking at her phone, it was odd to see not a single one. If she ever put it down there were always at least ten texts. Five from Tamaki, four from the twins and one from Kyoya. "I guess Kyoya must have really scared them,” she said scrolling through her phone. She was about to press the call button when there was a knock on her door.

"Hello?" she asked,  looking over the two strangers, the man stood leaning against the railing running his fingers through his short dark hair, the woman stood in front of her arms crossed in front of her tense body her curly dark hair falling on to her shoulders both wearing suits, _wait they’re American_ she thought. " **Hello?** " she repeated again, in English.

" **Oh thank God! You speak English,** " the man said as the woman next to him glared at the side of his head and elbowed him in the gut.

 " **Hi, sorry to bother you but we have a bit of an awkward situation. Do you mind if we come in a talk?** " the woman asked, the man rubbing his abdomen that had just been assaulted.

 " **Um… sure. Let me just put on some tea**."

As she made the tea Haruhi looked over at the strange pair as they walked in to the small apartment and sat down on the coach _, I really hope this has nothing to do with the Host club._

" **Ah yes snacks** ," he said as she placed a tray full of cookies on the table in front of the pair as she sat across from them. 

" **Pete we are not here to eat,** " The woman said, shaking her head.

" **What?** " The man said with mouth full of the cookies, “ **these are delicious** "

" **What is this about?** " Haruhi asked hoping to move this along and find out why the pair was there. _I need to call Kyoya, we have a menu tasting in two hours_.

 " **Watch,** " the man named Pete said with his mouth still half full.

" **I am sorry about my partner. I am Myka Bering and this is Pete Latimer. Your dad recently sent you a watch from Amsterdam right?"**

Haruhi looked over at the strange pair.

" **Why do you want to know?"**

" **Well this is going to sound a little funny but that watch has been in my family for many years.  Unfortunately my senile grandmother sold it without any of us knowing. I would very much appreciate it if I could buy it back from you**."

" **I guess that is alright**." Haruhi said and there was a knock on the door. " **Excuse me**."

 As Haruhi opened the door, she looked up at the person standing there, "Oh! Fuyumi, come in. I need to talk to you about something. Right now I have guest but I'll speak with you in a moment"  Ignoring the surprised and confused look the tall woman held on her face, Haruhi turned  around to the couple she spoke again in English.

" **I will be right back”** Haruhi spoke before disappeared.

Fuyumi spoke to the Americans as Haruhi disappeared from sight.

 " **You must be agents Latimer and Bering** " she said her tone flat and serious.

 " **How’d she know that?** " Pete asked as he looked over at a confused Myka for answers.

 " **Never mind how I know that. I think I have a code six on my hands and I need help** ," She said plainly, this was no time to argue.

 " **Code six?** " Pete scratched his head confused.

" **Wait! Do you know about the…?** " Myka asked, ignoring Pete’s question. If he had bothered to read the manual at all he would know that code six means multiple artifacts active at once.

" **Oh I know all about the warehouse, but I will discuss it with you later** ," she said looking over the small apartment.

 " **I thought you were here to see Haruhi?** " Myka asked.

 " **I have never met the girl before in my life,** " she said continuing her investigation. _Why does this place seem so familiar?_

" **Well she seems to know you,** ” Myka retorted as Fuyumi tried to remember if she had run into the girl before.

" **Hey guys I smell fudge** ," Pete said as he got up and walked towards the wall that had a few pictures hanging on it. Pulling one off the wall, Pete held it against his abdomen.

" **You say you have never met her before in your life?** " Pete asked and Fuyumi nodded her head yes. " **Then explain this**."  He said holding up the frame. It was a frame that held two pictures; one of Kyoya holding Haruhi close to him a small smile on his face as Haruhi beamed at the camera and the other of the entire Ootori family with the addition of Haruhi and Ranka. Fuyumi grabbed the picture and stared at it.

Pete took a large breath in while moving his head side to side dramatically. " **Yep, defiantly fudge.** " He said in a gravelly voice.

" **Sorry that took so long, my dad called. Here is the watch** ," she said handing out the box with her left hand. Fuyumi grabbed her hand and turned it over to see the ring and recognizing it.

"Why do you have my mother's ring?" Fuyumi asked.

"Um Fuyumi, Kyoya gave it to me two years ago when he proposed." She said looking confused at her soon to be sister-in- law.

"What?... No!... Kyoya?" she said each word sounding more and more confused.

" **Okay so I think we need to explain here**." Myka said

"Not here," Fuyumi said as she dragged Haruhi out by her wrist.

 " **What should we do?** " Pete looked over at Myka.

" **Oh come on** ," she said pulling Pete along who picked up the picture. Outside the two women were about to enter a limo.

 "Good afternoon Miss Haruhi," the driver said with a bow.

"Hotta you know her?" Fuyumi asked.

"Yes Miss Fuyumi I have often chauffeured you and the young miss around on your shopping day,” he answered as if relaying a message of no great importance.

" **Come on you two. We have something to figure out**."

 As the group climbed in to the limo, Fuyumi looked over at the two Americans. " **Alright hand me your Farnsworth.** " Myka and Pete looked at each other in confusion.

“Oh never mind.” she said, reaching in to the console above her. Fuyumi pressed a series of buttons that released a remote that Haruhi had never seen before. Pressing the top button caused a screen to appear right in front of the divider and, after a moment a woman popped up on the screen.

“ **Agent Ootori, I suppose you are calling about something big if my Agents are with you now**.” The African American woman said, looking over at the two Americans raising her eyebrow wondering why they were in the same limo as her Japanese operative.

“ **Mrs. F?** ” Pete blinked at the screen.

“ **Mrs. Fredrick I fear that the flowers have been put in to play**.” Fuyumi said ignoring the Americans. The woman on the screen flashed concern at the mentioning of the artifact.

“ **Mrs. Fredrick what is going on?** ” Myka asked noticing the expression on her boss’s face as Haruhi’s mind kept spinning trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together.

“ **Do you know who this is?** ” Fuyumi asked gesturing to Haruhi.

“ **Yes, if I am not mistaken that is to be your sister- in- law in a matter of days** ,” she said flatly trying to figure out where this was going.

“ **That’s just it I don’t remember ever meeting her**.”

Concern began to play openly across the woman’s face as she listened to the explanation.

“ **What?** ” Mrs. Fredrick asked as she raised her eyebrow nodding her head so that Fuyumi would continue.

“ **I mean that I know I have never met this girl before in my life and yet..**.” Fuyumi held up the picture that Pete had taken from the apartment,

“ **Yes I think you are right, Agent Nelson** ” Mrs. Fredrick turned and called over her shoulder and a man appeared in the screen.

“ **Artie what is going on?** ” Myka asked. The gruff looking man on the screen adjusted his glasses as he looked over at Mrs. Fredrick.

“ **Mrs. Ootori please explain and for the benefit of Miss. Fujioka please start at the beginning**. “ Mrs. Fredrick spoke as she held her hand up to Artie as he tried to speak, Fuyumi nodded her head.

“Well for one I work for Mrs. Fredrick on occasions. The Agents here Latimer and Bering, are collectors of sorts. For you see there are objects in the world that have wondrous and sometimes frightening powers.” Pausing she looked over at the small girl that was having trouble digesting what she was hearing.

“Please tell me this is an elaborate prank set up by Hikaru and Kauru.” Haruhi said flatly.

 Fuyumi looked over at the girl in surprise as she had mentioned the two Hitachiin heirs.

“I am afraid not. Several years ago Mrs. Fredrick saved me from an artifact, and ever since I have been working with her to make sure that no one in the upper echelon of Japanese society gets ahold of any artifacts. It’s our job to collect these objects and lock them away so that they can’t be used for anything wrong.”

“I don’t understand. What is going on? Why are you telling me this?” Haruhi asked. Reading their expressions, she knew the only reason that they were telling her this was that these so called artifacts were messing with her life.

“Haruhi, I am telling you this because I don’t remember you.”

“What?”

“ **Currently I am on the trail of eleven artifacts**.”

“ **Which ones?** ”  Artie asked looking at Mrs. Frederick.

“ **I am looking for the rest of the Barovier flowers** ,” she said holding up a bag that was clear one side but silver on the other. The object lying in the bag was a small glass flower pin, the grain of the glass so fine that no imperfections could be found on it.

“ **My God**.” Atrie said as he moved closer to the screen adjusting his glasses. Sitting back down Artie ran his hand through his greying facial hair, mumbling incoherent phrases as he did so.

“ **I found this on my father this morning which is why I came to see your agents to find out who we had forgotten.** ” Fuyumi said.

“ **Artie what is this?”** Pet asked grabbing the bag and looking closely at the flower.

“ **Jacobello Barovier was a glass blower in Venice in the early 1300’s. An apothecary had him create twelve identical flowers, just like that one. The materials used were special and when you add a piece of hair to the flower, it emits an aroma that makes you forget that person.  Anyone who smells the aroma forgets. But I thought they were locked away in the deep vaults of the ruins of warehouse 4,”** Atrie spoke as he moved his glasses to sit on top of his head as he rubbed his eyes trying to digest the situation they found themselves in. 

“ **Recent excavation at the site has caused that vault to become compromised. I secured everything I could but the flowers were gone before I got there**.” Fuyumi informed the group.

“ **But if you bagged the artifact, why don’t you remember Haruhi**?” Myka asked.

“ **I ran in to my brother first. I am guessing that he has one of the flowers on him. Until his is neutralized, I doubt I will fully remember you. But there is something else**.” The Ootori said turning to Haruhi.

“ **What is that?** ” Haruhi asked cautiously afraid that one more revelation will crack her cool facade.

“ **I don’t know how to tell you this but Kyoya is getting married.** ”

“ **Yes, to me.** ” the small girl said pointing to her own chest.

“ **No, to the daughter of a business associate. In five days.”**

“ **No,”** Haruhi said, shaking her head **“that’s when our wedding is**.” Haruhi said as panic began to well up inside of her chest.

“ **Sounds like someone is using Artifacts to hijack this wedding**.” Pete said as he handed the artifact back to Fuyumi.

“NO! Even if what you’re telling me is true, Tamaki won’t stand for it. In fact I will call him right now.”  Haruhi said. Finding the number she placed the phone on speaker.

“Hello? Who is this?” Tamaki’s voice filled the back seat.

“Tamaki, its Haruhi. Look there is something wrong with…” she said as she rubbed her hand up and down her face trying to rain in the swirling of emotions.

“Haruhi? I don’t know any one by that name. How did you get my personal number?” The half French man interrupted.

“Sempai, you gave it to me.” She said her blood running cold.

“I highly doubt that. I have work to attend to, so good bye.” The phone line disconnected and all Haruhi could do was stare at the phone she tried all of her friends but got the same response.

“I can’t believe it. They all forgot me.” 


	4. Going Home

“ **Haruhi?** ” Myka called as she looked over at the sell shocked woman.

All of a sudden Haruhi snapped back to reality, leaning forward avoiding the screen she knocked on the divider, “Hotta take me home,” she said desperation crawling in to her voice.

“Right away, Miss.” He said.

Suddenly the limo made a sharp turn as everyone shouted as they were tossed around. After several minutes the limo stopped suddenly, and without waiting for the driver Haruhi exited the car followed by the group. Walking in to the high rise she walked up to the doorman.

“Mako, did Kyoya come home last night?” She asked.

“Yes and no. He made it into the lobby. Then your friends the Hitachiins grabbed him before he could reach the elevator, they were saying something about a bachelor party.” The door man said “Why do you ask Miss. Haruhi.”

“Just checking,” she said staring off into space as she walked towards the elevator the three others rushing behind her.  As the doors closed Fuyumi looked over at the girl.

“ **Why are we here?** ” Myka asked.

“ **This is where our apartment is**.” she said quietly as the elevator stopped on the penthouse floor.  Walking to the left she unlocked the door and pressed in the security code. 

As Fuyumi looked over the room she was amazed, the kitchen was small and the counters were cluttered with a mix of paperwork and mail waiting to be sorted. Looking over them she recognized her brother’s handwriting in the margins. Turning she surveyed the living room the sitting area was sunken, the couch and armchairs were antique leather and were offset by the glass table tops which had various school text scattered along them. Picking one up she read the title, _Law Theory; Family Volume four_. Looking over she noticed a single hall way that she assumed lead to the bed room.

“It’s rather simple for Kyoya,” Fuyumi said without realizing it.

“Yes, well when he bought this place he wanted to buy the other three units on the floor as well.” Haruhi spoke as her soon to be Sister-in-law turned towards her. “I think it took a full two weeks before we even spoke to each other again.”

_“That woman is being unreasonable.”_ Kyoya’s voice filled Fuyumi’s head….

_Fuyumi stood in the door way of her brother’s room as he paced the floor, chuckling she shook her head side to side._

_“Actually I agree with Haruhi.”_

_“What?”_

_“Kyoya it’s already a four bedroom place, it’s just the two of you. Why do you need so much space?” Kyoya glared at his sister as she continued. “Now you and I both know she would have been happy with a single bedroom unit on the bottom floor. Now she made her compromise how about you make yours.”_

_“That woman is going to be the death of me” Kyoya said breathing a sigh of defeat. It was going on ten days, and she knew that it was only a matter of time till one or both of them broke down and ended the stalemate._

_“If that was the case you would have left her to Tamaki,” Kyoya looked at her and growled as Fuyumi laughed turning to leave._

Fuyumi sat down on the coach as the memory filled into her mid through the haze that seemed to reside over the last three years of her life.

“ **So why did you really want this watch?** ” Haruhi asked turning toward the two Americans.

“ **Well actually that watch belonged to the conductor of the first transcontinental railroad** ” Myka said quietly reaching in to her back pocket her revealing a badge and an odd looking gun on her hip as she pulled out what looked like a plastic bag “ **And if kept on the person they are constantly on time or early for everything**.”

“ **Where is the down side in that**?” Haruhi asked raising an eyebrow. “ **In fact I know a few people who would benefit from it**.”

“ **Well the last guy who had it, he stepped in front of a train because the train was late.** ” Pete said as he looked around the apartment.

Haruhi gasped and threw the watch still in its box at Myka who caught it wearing purple rubber gloves taking the watch out of the box, she placed it in to a silver bag and, as the watch made contact with the bag, several sparks shot out as everyone turned their heads to avoid being zapped.

“ **What was that?”** Haruhi asked as she watched Myka place the bagged watch in her suit pocket.

“ **Oh, just the artifact deactivating,** ” Myka chuckled nervously.

“Where is Kyoya’s office?” Fuyumi asked from her seat on the coach. 

The trio turned towards Fuyumi as the woman continued to stare at the wall across from her. The pictures hung upon it showing just how much her brother had changed.  _Kyoya never liked pictures hanging everywhere, and he always said sentimentality was pointless._ But there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. _But that was before Haruhi._  

“Down the hall first door on your left,” Haruhi spoke as she began to walk down said hallway.

The group followed Haruhi as she opened the door. The office was highly organized the shelves on the wall to the left were filled with various binders each labeled appropriately, the selves against the back wall held many books a mixture of various archives, text books, manuals, and theory. The rather large desk sat in the middle of the room, its mahogany wood contrasted with the white walls as the desk reached around sat against the right wall as the organized cabinets and cubby holes held various objects.

“Where are the computers?” Fuyumi asked, looking over at Haruhi.

“Why?” Haruhi asked as she looked over at her soon to be sister-in-law.

“I need information.”

“Okay give me a minute.”

As Haruhi walked towards the desk, a metallic ring filled the otherwise quiet room. Reaching into his pocket Pete pulled out a strange metal box an opened it.

“ **Okay, so I have some good news and bad news.** ”

Haruhi recognized the voice as she sat down in the leather chair that was behind the desk.

“ **What is it Artie?** ” Myka asked as she looked over Pete’s shoulder.

“ **Well the good news is that Mrs. Fredrick is sending Claudia over to help you, and retrieve the rest of the artifacts from the warehouse 4 vault,”** the voice coming from the box said rather quickly.

**“What is the bad news?”** Pete asked trepidation in his voice.

**“The bad news? Ah, yes! The bad news is that by just deactivating the flower isn’t going to reverse its effects,”** Artie spoke, his voice quietly trailing off as he finished the statement.

**“What?”** Pete and Myka said at the same time causing Haruhi to chuckle slightly as she watched the pair stare intently at the device.

**“Well, I was looking over the files we have for the flowers and it seems that it takes something else to clear out the effects of the flower. I really don’t understand it and apparently neither did the agents who secured them in the first place,”** Artie said.

**“I know someone who could help,”** Fuyumi spoke up as the two Americans looked up at her from the strange device.

**“Who?”** Pete asked.

**“She helps me understand artifacts from time to time; she has powers similar to Lena.”**

At the mention of their former friend the pair smiled sadly.

**“What about warehouse need to know”** Myka asked after several moments of strained silence.

**“She was already approved by the regents and Mrs. Fredrick; we can go see her after we finish up here,”**   Fuyumi replied looking over at Haruhi. _Maybe Haruhi already knows her._

**“Alright so figure out how to reverse the effects of the flowers I will do some research on my end and see what I come up with.”**

**“Thank you Artie,”** Myka spoke as she stepped away from Pete.

**“Yeah okay, just don’t get killed,”** the call ended, Pete closing the device and placing it back in to his pocket.

**“What is that thing?”** Haruhi asked

**“We call it a Farnsworth,”** Myka answered.

**“As in?”** the small brunette asked from her chair.

**“Yeah Filo Farnsworth made this just after the TV,”** Pete said as he examined the plethora of binders on the book shelves.

“Okay,” Haruhi spoke quietly as she moved over to the cabinet on the left.

Reaching in to the desk drawer she pulled out a set of keys finding the right one she placed it in to the cabinet on the right as the door opened it reveled another door, but this with a key pad.

“ **What’s with all the security?”** Pete asked.

**“My fiancé runs a very powerful company and he likes his privacy,”** Haruhi spoke as she imputed the six digit code.

“ **Yeah but what is in there?”** he asked as the red flashing light turned green and a small beep filed the otherwise silent room.  Opening the door Pete looked perplexed about fining it contents. “ **Computers?”**

The cabinet was filled with various computers all neatly stacked on their side totaling six in all. Haruhi looked over at Fuyumi and grabbed the third one, unplugging it and setting it on the desk.

As she shut the door the system beeped again and an animatronic voice spoke.  “System online.”

Haruhi opened the laptop and turned it on. As the screen came to life it continued to ask for various passwords and answers.

“What is all this?” Fuyumi asked coming around behind her and looking at the screen which kept flashing different questions as one was answered by Haruhi anther popped up on to the screen. 

“This is Kyoya’s personal computer; he uses it for all of his digging so he put a lot more security on it than the others,” Haruhi replied as she input another passcode. 

“What happens if you impute the wrong code?” Myka asked.

“You speak Japanese?” Haruhi asked not looking up.

“A little,” Myka responded as she watched the girl continue typing.

“If even one code is put in wrong the whole system is wiped clean and a security alert pops up on his phone,” she said continuing her task.

“Then why not use another computer?” Fuyumi asked as the two Americans came around to stand behind her. 

“Because this one has the programs and files we will need,” she said as she typed one more code and the home screen finally popped up.

**“What are you looking for?”** Pete asked

“ **Well after the initial shock I realized that whoever is responsible for this probably has a grudge against me. And Kyoya… well he likes to…. be informed. He would probably know who it was and why and that file would be on this computer,”** Haruhi said as she sifted through the files finding the one that had her name on it and opening it.

“ **Wait this guy has a file on his own Fiancé?!”** Pete asked.

**“He started this when we first met. It took a while for him to accept his own feelings let alone express them to me. There were plenty of times I thought I hated him or that he would let me go to someone else,”** Haruhi said as she continued digging through the file.

**“Who else?”**  Pete asked.

“Tamaki Suoh,” Fuyumi said quietly, remembering her flashback.

“No, as much as Tamaki felt for me he never would have perused me,” Haruhi said quietly, hoping to quickly dismiss the subject. “What’s this?”  Haruhi said to herself as she clicked on a file and opened it.

“Why is the file labeled engagement?” Fuyumi asked. 

Haruhi shrugged her shoulders as she clicked on the file. Once it had opened the only thing in the file was an unlabeled video. Turning on the volume Haruhi clicked on the file and watched as it began to play.

_Kyoya sat across from his father in the office of the elder man, the desk sitting between them. Polite chit chat was exchanged, as a servant brought in some tea, but as the door closed and the latch clicked, both instantly tensed up._

_“Son, there is something that we need to discuss,”  Mr. Ootori began, as he set his cup down._

_“What is that?” Kyoya asked as he took a drink of his own tea._

_“The matter of your engagement.”_

_As the elder spoke the words the younger began to choke on his drink._

_“Father...” Kyoya spoke after catching his breath, and placing the cup down on desk in front of him._

_“Kyoya you will be twenty four in a few months. It is high time we got this affair in order” the elder Ootori interrupted, threading his fingers together._

_“I hope you are not suggesting…” Kyoya spoke carefully, as he was trying to hold back his rage._

_“Well the Sohma’s are rather insistent that the deal we made when you were young is honored.”_

_At this Kyoya began to chuckle,_

_“Do you really expect me to follow along with your plans?”_

_“Kyoya if you wish to…” his father began, but Kyoya held up his hand signaling for his father to stop speaking._

_“Sir, may I remind you that I have been building my own company since high school. It has been doing very well. So I find that the need to become your successor is inconsequential.” The Shadow King informed him coolly._

_“Are you implying you don’t need me?” Mr. Ootori asked with the slightest bit of anger and resentment ringing in his voice._

_“I wasn’t implying anything; I was stating it as a fact. Not only am I CEO of my own company, but I have many contacts with other high ranking families. You do remember that silly little club, as you like to put it was filled with members of the Hitachiin, Morinozuka, Haninozuka, and Suoh families. In fact, all of the aforementioned people are the next head of those families,” Kyoya ssid in an icy tone._

_“This really can’t be about that silly little commoner” his father said leaning back in to his desk chair._

_Kyoya stood up and slammed his hands down on the desk causing the cups to rattle on their saucers as he began to speak._

_“You will do well to remember that I have been dating her with your permission for the past three years. I will not give her up lightly. Whether you like it or not, it is my intention that Haruhi become an Ootori. I will not allow myself to be used as a pawn in your game. Especially if it means I will have to give her up,” Kyoya shouted at his father._

_Mr. Ootori sat back in his chair for several minutes looking at his son who still stood ridged in front of him, showing no signs of backing down. Silence filled the room as they both stared down at each other, neither willing to make the first move._

_“Good,” Mr. Ootori said finally a wide grin filling his face as he watched the confusion creep on to Kyoya’s._

_“What?” the younger one finally spoke._

_“I am rather fond of Miss. Fujioka. I have been ever since the fair when I first ran in to her,” the elder said as he reached in to his desk. He pulled out a small box and held it in his hand._

_“Then why even mention the Sohma’s?” Kyoya asked finally standing back in an upright position, but still unable to remove the shocked and confused expression off of his face._

_“They have been making a pest of themselves and I would like for them to realize their place.” Mr. Ootori said as he stood the small box still in his hands._

_“What are you saying?” Kyoya asked skeptically._

_“I am saying propose to the girl…” Mr. Ootori walked around his desk to his son and placed the blue box in his hands. “And make a spectacle of it,” he said walking out of the room._

The room was very quiet after the video finished playing. Fuyumi stared at the screen trying to process what she just had seen. _So not only did Kyoya fight for her, but father approved?_ the Ootori questioned in her head a Myka began to pace.

“ **Why would Kyoya keep something like this?”** Myka asked as she continued her pacing.

**“Incase his father changed his mind. Its leverage,”** Haruhi said not even flinching. She was honestly more surprised that she hadn’t expected this; looking down at the ring on her finger she twirled it mindlessly.

**“Look we can discuss this later, what we need to do is go see this friend of Fuyumi’s and see what she has to say about the flower,”** Pete said as he walked in Myka’s path to stop her incessant walking.

**“Pete’s right we can sit here all day and speculate about the past but we need to find a way to reverse the effects of the flowers,”** Myka said as she began walking out the door. Haruhi closed down the laptop and placed it back in to the safe. Quickly following the others she entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close.

**“Alright, so where are we going?”** Haruhi asked her soon to be Sister-in law as the elevator began to move.

**“To a little shop called The Black Magic Club.”**

 


	5. Rieko's Shame

As the limo pulled up in front of the small shop Pete sucked in a large breath.

“ **Pete what’s wrong?”** Haruhi asked as she sat in the limo waiting for the man to get out.

**“I am getting a major vibe,”** he said as he stepped out of the limo.

The group approached the shop. The windows had large black curtains drawn so any passersby could not see inside. Fuyumi opened the door and the small bell attached made a ring that echoed through the dark store which was only slightly illuminated by candelabras that were scatted everywhere.  Various dust covered wooden tables filled the large empty space, each filled with a verity of odd objects. The shelves that lined the walls were stuffed with antique leather bound books. Haruhi walked over to the books and picked one up, the faded ink on the cover and spine was ineligible.

“You’re not here for books are you?” a female voice asked.

 Haruhi tuned around to see who the voice came from.

“Reiko?”  Haruhi asked the girl in front of her, the woman’s long brown hair pulled up in to a tight bun with various tendrils curled around the frame her face.

“Yes, were you referred here by someone?” the brunette asked.

“Mrs. Haninozuka, we are here because of an artifact we need information about.” Fuyumi said looking over the stunned expression of Haruhi; she assumed her hunch was right.

“Right this way,” Reiko motioned for the group to follow.

Fuyumi led the way followed by Pete. As the former black magic club member turned, Myka gasped as she noticed that stuck in the bun of the girl in front of them was a flower pin that was identical to the one Fuyumi had already acquired. The two girls walked in just as Fuyumi finished explaining what they knew about the flower.

The office was rather large and had two mahogany desks positioned across from each other. The back wall was filled to the brim with books, scrolls, and binders. The wall on the left had a set of shelves with various objects on them each seemed to have a tag on them with names, places, and prices. Several small leather chairs were setup all over the place, and the small windows had dark curtains covering them.  Stepping in to the private office Myka shut the door as Reiko turned to face the group.

“ **So you are telling me that this flower has the ability to make people forget someone completely?** ” Reiko asked as she held the flower in her hands that were covered with the same purple gloves that Myka had worn earlier when dealing with the watch.

“ **Yeah and that is the girl everyone has forgotten,”** Pete said pointing to Haruhi.

Rieko looked over the girl carefully, never showing a flicker of recognition as she continued her inspection. The room was silent as Pete noticed the back of Rieko’s head and upon seeing the pin began to point animatedly at his partner. Myka began to frown at the man as he continue the animated gestures. Eventually she began swatting at his hands until he eventually stopped just as Reiko turned back around.

“Do I know you?” Reiko asked as she set the pin down on the desk.

“What?” Haruhi said quietly.

“I could swear I have never met you before in my life but your aura is very familiar,” Reiko spoke plainly as she turned back towards the girl in question.

“Actually this might explain why,” Fuyumi said walking up behind Reiko and pulling the flower pin out of her hair.

As the girls long locks fell down her back Reiko reached out and grabbed the pin. As soon as it touched the purple gloves it sparked slightly. Opening the bag Reiko dropped the pin in to it causing sparks to appear once again.

“Well this is interesting,” Reiko said as she reached into the bag pulling out the pin. Picking up the other she studied them both very closely.

“Do you remember where you got this?” Myka asked

“No, I don’t even remember putting it on. **Sir your phone is about to ring,”** Reiko said turning to Pete who looked at her confused until the metallic sound of the Farnsworth filled the quiet room.

Pulling out the box, Pete cleared his throat as he opened it to answer the call.

“ **Pete, I just landed where are you guys?”** a female voice said over the speaker.

**“Claude, we are at this weird shop**. **Apparently Agent Ootori knew someone like Lena who could help.”**

**“Ahhh, you must mean Haninozuka Reiko.”**

**“No Reiko is her first name, and how do you know that?”** Pete said confused as he looked over at Myka who just shook her head in frustration.

**“Pete I am the nerd trust me on this, and hello I am the caretaker in training. Mrs. F. has given me clearance on a bunch of stuff, okay so I know where you guys are I’ll be there in twenty don’t leave without me.”**  The call disconnected, Pete chuckled quietly putting the Farnsworth back in his pocket.

“So back to my question, do I know you?” Reiko asked as she turned back to Haruhi. She nodded her head, looking down at the flowers in Reiko’s hand.

“ **So obviously it takes more than just deactivating the artifact to reverse its effects. So we were wondering if you could use your gifts to help us figure out the missing piece,”** Myka asked.

 Reiko nodded her head and, taking a deep breath she closed her eyes with the artifacts in her hands. 

“ **This could take some time just get comfortable,”** Fuyumi spoke as she sat down on a nearby chair.

True to her word twenty minutes later the group hears the bell chime in the store followed by a voice.

“ **Pete, Myka?”**

The sound of footsteps comes closer to the door and, as it opens, they look up and are greeted by a strange looking girl. Short red hear cut into a sleek bob, with long section of bangs that hung over her left eye.  Including a streak of purple in the bangs.  Her pale hands clutched a messenger bag that was slung over her right shoulder and had various wires hanging out of the slightly open pockets. The leather patched jacket was slightly open, reveling several layers of tank tops. Tucking a key in to the back pocket of her skinny jeans, she looked up and smiled at the Americans.

“ **How did you get in here?** ” Fuyumi asked as she stood to stop the girl.

“ **Mrs. F gave me a key,”** the girl said as she sat down on the desk.

“ **Claudia, what have you been told?”**  Myka asked.

**“Everything, Artie gave me the run down on the artifact, and Mrs. Fredrick told me all about the Japanese sector,”** Claudia said with a shrug.

“ **Who are you?”** Haruhi asked.

**“Claudia Donovan; Warehouse 13 Tech genius, agent, and the next caretaker,”** the red head said extending her hand towards the girl. Haruhi took it and shook. “ **You must be Fujioka Haruhi.”**

Haruhi nodded her head as a load gasp came from Reiko.

“The truth will set you free,” Reiko said as she blinked her eyes several times.

“ **What?** ” Pete asked.

“ **That’s what will reverse the effects of the flower, the truth,** ” Reiko spoke softly as she placed the flowers back in the sliver bag.

“ **But we already told you and Fuyumi and yet both of you have no other memories of Haruhi.** ” Pete spoke as he began to scratch his head.

“ **Well, maybe it’s a specific memory.  One that shows the truth of their relationship** ,” Myka said as she nodded her head.

“ **Well it would have to be something big cause something small anyone could find out,** ” Claudia began as the trio began to try and unravel what they needed.

The group stood around arguing as Haruhi looked over at Reiko and remembered something that had been said to her in confidence. 

“ **Haruhi did you hear me?** ” Myka said as she shook the shoulder of Haruhi. The girl blinked several times, as she began processing just what she was about to do.

“Rieko…”  Haruhi took a deep breath, her hands began to shake so she grabbed on to the back of the chair in front of her before she continued. “I know something you haven’t told Honey.”

“Were you a client of the Host club?” Reiko asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“No. I was in the host club,” Haruhi said flatly as a look of confusion ran across Rieko’s face.

“But you’re a girl!” she said plainly.

“That doesn’t change anything. I know you almost as well as I know Honey.” Haruhi said quietly.

“Then what do you know that my husband doesn’t?!” Reiko shouted. It was the first time Haruhi had heard the girl’s voice raised above a quiet murmur.

“That you hope the baby you are currently carrying is nothing like you or Honey!” Haruhi shouted.

_Reiko fidgeted as she sat outside of the busy café waiting for Haruhi. Two teas sat on the table in front of her. She clasped on in her hands trying to calm herself down. Soon she saw the brunette in question walking up to the table._

_“Sorry, my briefing when longer than expected.  The prosecution is trying to hardball and get us to plead but that’s not happening,” Taking a drink of the tea in front of her Haruhi sighed, “Then again this is just a mock trial, but I still plan on winning.”_

_“That’s fine,” Rieko said as she picked up the spoon and stirred her tea for the hundredth time._

_“So what’s wrong?  You sounded anxious on the phone,” Haruhi said looking over at the nervous woman and raising her eyebrow._

_Reiko reached in to her purse and handed Haruhi something. Looking down at the object in her hand Haruhi gaped as she realized that it was a home pregnancy test, and it read positive._

_“Reiko congratulations,” she said before looking up at her friend.  She noticed the conflicted look on her face, “Does Honey know?”_

_“No,” the woman sobbed._

_“Why aren’t you telling him?” Haruhi asked placing the test back in the open purse on the table._

_“Because he is going to be so excited,” she sobbed._

_“And why is that a bad thing?” Haruhi asked reaching over the table to grasp the hand of her friend as she continued to sob._

_“Because I am terrified,” she said between breaths._

_“Rieko, a lot of people feel that way. I mean pregnancy is a scary thing,” Haruhi said trying to be reassuring._

_“No, that not it… I am terrified that this child will be like Mitsukuni and me,” Reiko finally admitted, as her sobs began to lessen. She started taking bigger breaths hoping to catch hers._

_“Why is that a bad thing?” Haruhi asked._

_“When I first found out I was pregnant I was so happy. We have been trying for two years. We even went to a specialist that told us that all we had to do was keep trying. So we did. But once I started thinking about what our child would be like, I imagined a cute little boy with my eyes and Mitsukuni’s hair. He would have his father’s Martial arts prowess, and my gifts.”_

_“What’s so wrong about that?”  Haruhi asked with a smile, imaging the same little boy begging for sweets clutching Usa-chan just like his father used to and Haruhi could not suppress the small chuckle that came out of her._

_“Both of us are outcasts. My family barely talks to me and Mitsukuni’s tolerates his oddities. Plus the people outside of our friends look down on us. I don’t want my child to have to go through that kind of pain. I just want him to be normal,” the pregnant woman sobbed, soon she felt Haruhi pull her into an awkward embrace._

_After several moments the tears stopped and she hiccupped. Pulling away, Haruhi picked up a napkin and whipped the tear streaks off her face._

_“I know you and Honey aren’t conventional…” Haruhi began as she held the napkin up to the girl’s nose as she blew into it. “But you both have something that a lot of people don’t have. The courage to be yourself, whether it will be someone with your gifts or Honey’s sweet loving Lolita persona and any child you have will be lucky to have even a percentage of that.” she said rubbing circles into the other woman’s back. “Plus, you know Honey will take care of anyone that tries to shame any child you have for being themselves.”_

_“You know you will make a great mom,” Rieko said after she had calmed down._

_“Well I don’t see that happing for a while,” the brunette said with a chuckle as the two finished their teas and stood to leave._

_“Please don’t tell Honey any of this,” Reiko looked over and pleaded with the girl._

_“Okay, but I think you should. I am sure he could help alleviate some of your fears.”_

_“Thank you, you’re a great friend.”_

Reiko took a couple steps back as she clutched her head. The fog that once filled her mind began to clear. The group crowded around the pregnant woman as she took several large breaths. Blinking her eyes, she gasped as she noticed that the group and failed to notice the addition to the room in the midst of the argument.

“Rieko?” Honey called, tears in his eyes.

 


	6. Honey's Anger

“Mitsukuni!” Reiko said quietly as she watched her husband as he stood in the open door way. Looking him over she noticed the small flower pinned to his tie. Looking over at the agents, they all nodded their heads. 

“Is what this woman said true?” the hurt in his voice clear as day as he pointed to Haruhi.

“Mitsukuni, I can explain,” Reiko began to cry leaning in to Haruhi.

“What? That not only are you keeping secrets, but that you are telling them to complete strangers!” he began to yell, as Dark Honey started coming through.

“Mitsukuni, please there is something I have to tell you,” she said trying to stand tall but keeping a hand on Haruhi

“What!” he shouted as everyone in the room jumped.

“You’re wearing an artifact,” she said quietly.

“Where?” He asked as anger still on his face but the recognition clear as day.

“Your tie tack,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean? I don’t have one on,” Honey growled.

Looking over the group he noticed everyone staring at his chest. Looking down he didn’t see anything other than the tie he had put on this morning for the meeting he hand been forced to attend.  Looking up again he saw the girl his wife was clutching to and, there was a nagging feeling in his mind that told him to trust the stranger.

“Take it,” he said opening his suit jacket.

Rieko removed the pin and placed it in the bag, Honey’s eyes widen as he saw the small object appear in his wife’s hand. The flower sparked as it joined the others in the bottom of the bag.  She turned around and placed the bag on the table.

“What does it do?” Honey asked, anger still in his voice.

“It makes you forget someone,” Fuyumi said from her chair.

“Who?” he asked looking over at the Ootori.

“Me,” Haruhi said quietly as she comforted the still crying woman.  Honey’s scrutinizing gaze fell on Haruhi. He stared her down and he looked her over several times as if trying to figure out the small girl.

“Well, why don’t I remember you? Reiko removed the artifact,” he asked.

“Wait, you know about artifacts?” Haruhi asked confused.

“He is my one,” Reiko said as she continued to sob. Haruhi looked over at Myka for an explanation.

“I’ll explain later,” the American said quietly.

“So why don’t I remember?”

“Honey, please sit down,” Haruhi said. Honey looked her over as he did so. Pete moved behind him and shut the door.

“Okay so I can prove that I know you really well. Almost as well as your wife, which is why she confided in me.”

“How is that?” he growled.

“Because you told me something in confidence once and I am the only one who knows.”

“What’s that?” he asked in disbelief.

“Your brother… Chika… is Gay”

_Haruhi sat in the gardens of the Haninozuka estate. The former host club had been invited to their annual spring tea party and, trying to get away from the crowd, Haruhi had escaped to the dense gardens. As she turned the corner she saw something that surprised her. Standing underneath the flowering cherry blossoms was Chika caught up in a passionate kiss with Takashi’s younger brother Satoshi. Quickly she backed away slowly and, as she made her way out of the garden she ran in to Honey._

_“You saw didn’t you,” he said quietly._

_Haruhi nodded. Honey sighed and began walking towards the empty house. He motioned for her to follow him. As they entered his office, Honey locked the door. Quietly moving behind his desk he sat in his office chair._

_“Honey, I promise I won’t tell anyone,” she spoke quickly._

_“I know Haruhi.”_

_She didn’t miss the fact that Honey had not used her nickname like he usually did._

_“How long have you known?”_

_“I caught them in the Dojo when they were fifteen. Chika and Satoshi are in love with each other, but Chika keeps things quiet,” he said. Haruhi could see the shame begin to run across his usually cheerful face._

_“Why? I mean it’s the 21 st century. And I know things are hard in Japan, but things are changing,” she began her tirade against injustice that Honey had heard nearly a million times. _

_“It’s my fault.”  He said quietly, reaching over to the shelves and grabbing Usa-chan off of them._

_“How is that?” she asked as Honey cuddled with his stuffed bunny._

_Since his high school graduation, Honey had been caring Usa-chan around less. Unless they were at the Haninozuka Estate the only time anyone saw the bunny was when Honey was either sick or upset._

_“While my immediate family and the Morinozukas are more accepting of my Lolita personality. There are many members of the Haninozukas that are unsettled by it. So to counter, they drilled it in to Chika that it is up to him to uphold all of the family traditions,” He said as he buried his head in to his faithful companion. “While I know that my parents won’t have a problem with it, it’s the rest of my family that will. If it wasn’t for the fact that I can beat him in every match, the rest of the family would have revolted that Chika should be the next head and not me.”_

_“But that’s not fair to you or Chika, or Satoshi for that matter. Does Mori know?”_

_“He suspects but he hasn’t said anything. Do you know what is really sad?”_

_“What?”_

_“In order to draw attention away from Chika, I began over exaggerating my Lolita side.” Honey pulled the rabbit away from his face at stared intently at it._

_“I figured as much,”_

_“What?” He said changing his focus to the girl sitting across from him._

_“I could never understand how you could transition so well from high school, to university. Plus, there were times I could tell you were just laying it on thick.”_

_“Well that is true. I want Chika to be himself, so I decided to do everything I can so that the rest of the family will be okay with Chika being gay. But no matter what I do those idiots are just stricter with Chika!” he shouted, practically throwing the bunny back on the shelf._

_“Honey, calm down.”_

_“No! They have already chosen the girl they want him to marry, and Chika is going along with it. He is breaking not only Satoshi’s heart but his own and as his big brother I can’t watch him do it. But I can’t stop him either,” Honey said as years of secrets and frustrations finally came out as he sobbed in to Usa-chan._

_Haruhi got up from her chair and walked over to the small crying man. As she neared him he leaped in to her arms and continued his wailing._

_“Haru-chan what am I supposed to do? All I want is for Chika to be happy and that can only happen if he is with Satoshi,” He cried as his tears began to soak her shirt._

_“I don’t know, but I promise I will help you,” she said as she hugged him tight._

_“Thank you Haru-chan.”_

Honey leaned over and clutched his head as just like Reiko the fog began to clear. After several minutes a quiet sob filled the silent room.

“Haru-Chan!!!” Honey cried as he leapt in to Haruhi’s arms. “I am so sorry I forgot you!” the sobs continued.

“Honey it’s okay. I know it wasn’t your fault. How about we go and get some strawberry cake?”

“Okay, hey how about you all come over to our house for dinner?  We can discuss what’s going on,” he said reaching a hand out towards his wife she looked at him nervously.  The cheerfulness in Honey’s eyes became melancholy as he looked at his wife. “We can talk when we get home.” He said quietly to his wife.  After several moments she nodded her head and accepted his hand.

“Lead the way.”

* * *

 

Mr. Ootori walked out of the elevator, quietly greeting several employees as he made his way to his office.

“Hello sir, how was your lunch?” his secretary asked as she handed him several notes about calls he hand missed.

“Fine, oh and call back Mr. Ito and tell him that we ran in to a legal problem that needs a creative fix.” _There is someone else I want to call about this but I can’t remember who,_ he thought to himself.

“Yes sir, oh and your son’s soon to be father- in- law is in your office.” She said as she picked up the ringing phone on her desk.

“Thank you,” He said firmly as she returned back to work.

Walking in and closing the door, he noticed a head of long red hair. Coming around he found a man in a business suit, his long hair in a low ponytail that hung over his shoulder on to his chest.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Well you did tell me you wanted to have a meeting once I got back so here I am,” Ranka said cheerfully, but he frowned as he noticed the doubt that was on the Ootori’s face.

“Yes, well there seems to be some mix up. My secretary said that your daughter was about to marry my son, but I could swear I’ve never met you. Plus I just left a lunch meeting that included said man and to be frank you’re not him.”

Ranka nodded his head quietly deciding to play along.

“Well I don’t know why she would do that?”

“Well then sir, may I ask who are you and why we are having this meeting?”

“Fujioka, Ryoji. I am a consultant at the Hitachiin Design Group.”

After Haruhi had graduated Yuzuha, the twin’s mother, had asked him to come on as a consultant for her line for cross dressers.

“Okay, Mr. Fujioka what brings you here?”

“I was told to double check the delivery time for the suits for the wedding” Ranka said, coming up with the quickest lie he could think of.

“Well, any time between ten and four and the main estate should be fine.”

“Certainly, sorry for the interruption,” Ranka said as he stood and walked out of the office.

Calmly he made his way out of the building and to the street. Hailing a cab he gave the address to his home. Despite the fact that he now made plenty of money, he refused to move. That apartment was the last place he had lived with his precious Kotoko and for the life of him he would not move.  Paying the cab, he got out and made his way home. Walking in, Ranka went to the closet and pulled out a box he hadn’t seen in a while. Finding the phone and its cord he plugged it in and waited several minutes before turning it on.

Finding the number he was looking for Ranka pressed the call bottom and waited as he listened to the ring tone. The familiar beep of the voice mail came through the phone and he began to speak.

“ **Hello, Mrs. Fredrick. I believe we have some things to discuss**.”

 


	7. Your One Chance

“ **Do you think we should go and check on them?** ” Pete asked, as the group sat in the library of the Haninozuka estate.

After arriving, Honey had ordered that no one was to enter the library until the group exited. After locking the door from the inside, he grabbed his wife’s wrist and pulled her in to his adjacent office. Slamming and locking the door, the couple left a confused group sitting outside.

“ **No. Rieko and Honey need to work this out on their own,** ” Haruhi said as she leaned against the wall and could hear muffled voices through it.

“ **They have been in there for hours** ,” Pete whined as he tossed a ball in to the air and caught it several times. After the third throw, it landed on the table causing a loud clank to fill the room.

“ **Pete,** ” Myka warned as she snatched the ball off of the table before her partner could grab it, and stuffed it in to her own pocket.

“ **While we are waiting can you explain what Reiko meant when she said Honey was her one?** ” Haruhi asked.

“ **Every person involved with the warehouse is allowed to tell one outside person about it. Most people choose a significant other or family member,** ” Claudia said as she looked up from a gadget that she was trying to rewire.

Haruhi nodded as the door to the study opened. Honey stepped out looking exhausted.

“Are you okay?” Haruhi asked as she watched the man lean against the door.

“I am not fond of fighting with my wife,” Honey said dryly as he rubbed his forehead, his blond bangs covering his eyes.

“How is Reiko?” the natural type asked the door opened again.

Rieko stepped out, the red rim around her eyes clear. She took several ragged breaths before she spoke,

“I am okay, and we will be. **There have been a lot of discoveries today and I get the feeling that more will come**.” 

“ **True, but there are some questions I need answered** ,” Fuyumi spoke placing the book she had been reading down.

“ **Like what?** ” Pete asked.

“ **Well, for one Mr. Haninozuka seemed genuinely shocked when the flower was removed from his person, so my question is why?** ”

Claudia placed her device down on the table, reaching in to her bag she pulled out a very thin looking file, opening it she began to speak.

“ **It could be the flower. From the limited files we have on it, they seem to work almost like a hypnotist’s watch. It influences multiple parts of the brain, especially the ones that control memories as well as the subconscious.”**

“ **Honey, what do you remember about how you got it?** ” Myka asked, turning toward the man in question.

“ **Not much. I remember arriving at the club for the bachelor party and, the twins ran off somewhere and then everything is a blur. The next thing I remember is waking up at home**.” Honey said.

“ **What about the flower?** ” Haruhi asked.

Shaking his head Honey looked up and spoke,

“ **No. The only thing I remember is leaving a small present for Reiko**.”

The group turned to look a Reiko as she nodded her head,

“ **It was the flower. I felt the presence of something in the box. But as so as I opened it it’s like my mind went blank**.”

“ **Okay, so all we know is that all of the guys got their flowers at the bachelor party. Maybe we could go and see if they have security footage of that night to figure out what happened** ,” Pete said excitedly.

“ **Good plan. Agents Latimer, Bering, and Donavan, you three go to the club. Question the employees and get the footage** ,” Honey said as he wrote down the name and address of the club.

“ **I’ll have some of my family’s private police force meet you over there. They will help with any issues you may have,** ” Fuyumi said as she pulled out her phone, and escorted the Americans out of the room.

Honey looked over at Reiko, nodding his head she began to walk out the door as well. As she passed in front of her husband he grabbed her waist. Leaning her towards him he kissed the side of her head.  After a few moments she began moving again closing the door behind her.

“I am guessing you have a plan Honey?” Haruhi asked.

“Yes, but I needed to talk with you in private for a moment,” Honey said as he walked back over he locked the door.

“What is it?” the natural type asked as her friend turned back around.

“You know things about all of us don’t you?” he asked quietly.

“If you’re referring to the secrets about you and Reiko, then yes,” she said raising her eyebrow at him.

“That’s what I thought,” Honey mumbled under his breath as he looked out the window at the gardens.

“This is going to get messy isn’t it?” Haruhi asked from her seat.

“Probably. I know Kyoya has been preparing you for what’s going to happened once you both are married but….” Honey paused looking for the right way to ask the question.

“What is it?”

“Haru-Chan have you ever considered not marrying Kyoya?” he asked turning to face the girl.

“What?” the shock filled her face in an instant.

“I know this may seem a little crazy, but hear me out.”

Haruhi nodded, Honey took a deep breath and continued.

“This could be a blessing in disguise.”

“What you mean?”

“It is no secret that as the top families in Japan we garner a large amount of attention where ever we go.  No matter what we do, we are watched and followed constantly.”

“Yes, what is your point?” she was getting annoyed at all of the stalling.

“My point is this. We have to gather the flowers, that much is certain. They are a menace to society and should be locked away in the warehouse and forgotten about for the rest of time. But we don’t have to reawaken everyone else’s memories.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Haruhi, from the moment you stepped in to our club we have not let you go. Tamaki made you break that vase. The twins attached themselves to you the moment you were able to tell them apart. Takashi and I made sure you would always stay close by and Kyoya kept adding to your debt.”

“Honey,” Haruhi tried to interrupt but the boy Lolita continued on.

“We had insurance on that vase; there was no need for you to pay us back. In fact we made more money by you breaking it then we could have in the auction,” Honey admitted bitterly.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“We are highly selfish people; we never let you get ten steps ahead of us before we dragged you back another twelve. You know Kyoya looked all over the place for reasons to raise your debt,” Honey paused and looked over at Haruhi and, after several quiet moments he continued.

“That’s the reason why he was always smiling whenever he told you he was raising it. It kept you close by. I don’t know what he has told you but he has been in love with you since that first day you worked in the club. He overheard your conversation with Tama-Chan and, he said he had never met a girl that didn’t care about his family name, money, or his looks. So from that moment on he did everything in his power to keep you close. Though I guess that was true for all of us.”

“He actually told you that?” she said a little in awe of the fact Kyoya had admitted that.

“Yes, it was a couple of years later, after you both started dating, You were fighting I don’t remember why any more but the twins had taken him out to forget his troubles. I don’t know what happened exactly. By the time I got to the bar he couldn’t even stand.”

_The smell of sweat and booze filled the air as Honey walked in to the club. Looking around he found his friends sitting upstairs in the VIP room. Shaking his head he walked up the stairs and entered to room. The twins where hanging on to each other, like they used to in school, performing their brotherly love act for the poor bartenders. The female looked like she was ready to faint and the male looked pissed._

_Kyoya was sitting on the coach across from the bar, a bottle of whiskey in his hands. Putting the bottle to his lips Kyoya took a large gulp of it before realizing that Honey had entered the room._

_“Well if it isn’t the boy Lolita,” Kyoya said his words slurring but still understandable._

_“Kyoya, how much have you had to drink?” Honey asked spying the box of empty bottles a bar back was carrying down stairs._

_“Well, we started off with scotch and then moved to brandy and now I am on the whiskey, because those two finished off the rum,” he said raising the bottle to his lips again._

_“Okay that’s enough,” Honey said as he grabbed the bottle out of the cool type hosts hands the liquid spilling down his chin and landing on his shirt._

_“I wasn’t finished; I am going to drink until it doesn’t hurt,” Kyoya said as he tried to grab the bottle out of Honey’s hands._

_Backing up to the bar, he handed the bottle back to the bartenders and ordered them to shut down and remove all of the bottles from the upstairs area._

_“Want to tell me what happened?” he said as he watched the twins cry at the sight of the alcohol leave the area._

_“That woman,” Kyoya muttered._

_“What about Haruhi?”_

_“That woman…I could give her the world and she wouldn’t care. She would just throw it back in to my face,” he spat, leaning forward slightly._

_“What happened?” Honey asked again firmly._

_“She was upset when she found out my secret,” he said still hunched over, Kyoya began to groan in pain._

_Honey walked back over and helped his friend up. The bartenders placed a case of bottled water on the table next to the couch and left._

_“What secret are you referring to?” he asked once Kyoya was back in an upright positon._

_“The scholarship she got for her university, the all-inclusive one…It never existed.”_

_“What?” Honey asked as he watched the twins attempt to stumble down the stairs. Thankful Kyoya’s body guards caught them and motioned that they were taking the twins to the limo._

_“I have been paying for her studies,” he said looking out the window._

_“Kyoya…”_

_“I watched her tear her hair out at Ouran to keep her scholarship. I offered to pay for her university studies but she refused. So I made up a fake foundation and I have been paying for her school that way.”_

_“And let me guess she wasn’t happy about that,” Honey spoke as he reached over and grabbed a water bottle. Opening it he handed it to Kyoya._

_“She threw the pendant I gave her for our anniversary back at me,” the cool type spoke taking the water bottle and downing it in a few gulps._

_“Kyoya.”_

_“You don’t understand, I have loved her since the first time she stepped in to the host club. That idiot king, I heard what she said to him. She said that she didn’t care about money, status, or looks. It is what’s on the inside that counts,” Kyoya’s words began to slur together the faster he talked._

_”Well that does sound like Haru-chan.”_

_“But I ignored it. I couldn’t even say that I liked her until the fair.” Reaching in to his pocket, Kyoya pulled out the pendant. It was a simple tear drop pendant attached to a silver chain.  “You know what is funny? I had this made out of a few of the pieces of the vase.”_

_“What?”_

_“I kept all of those pieces. That box on my desk has the broken glass in it. It’s the pieces of that vase,” Kyoya spoke as he turned and looked over at Honey. “I miss her so much.”_

_“Well once you get sober you can see her again,” Honey spoke as he saw Kyoya’s guard begun to walk back up the stairs to retrieve their master._

_“I can’t lose her,” Kyoya’s voice began to crack “I have to get her back.”_

_The guard came and picked up their master who had the glass pendant clutched to his chest._

_“Take me to Haruhi,” Kyoya ordered as the group began descending the stairs._

Honey looked over at Haruhi, she had pulled the pendent out from under her shirt and was clutching it in her hand.

“What is your point?” she said interrupting his thoughts

“My point is that you can have a normal life. Tamaki won’t barge into your house anymore. The twins won’t use you as a human mannequin.  Kyoya will not try and control you anymore. You have a chance at a normal life, one that is not complicated by us or the attention and scrutiny we bring with us. So my point is, do you want that?”

The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Haruhi clutched the pendant and Honey held his breath. _I could really be free of them,_ she thought as her mind raced, but as she looked down to the ring on her left hand only one answer came to mind.

“Never,” she growled

“What?”

“Never.  I will never allow that to happen. I will admit you all can be tiring and intrusive. I would rather not have all of you tearing through my life, but I would never trade any of you for a single day of peace. You guys are my family and I’ll be damned if I let them forget about me.”

“What about Kyoya?”

“That man owes me. I still haven’t forgiven him for what he did with my scholarship. And I’ll be damned if he thinks that forgetting about me will change any of that. Besides, he promised me that no matter what he would always love me and an Ootori never breaks their promise. I don’t intend on letting him forget.”

“What about the people responsible?”

“I’ll make them pay. I don’t care how hard or how long I have to fight, but they will learn never to mess with a Fujioka!”

“Good.” Honey spoke a dark smirk found its way on to the blonds face.

“Huh?”

“I had to be sure. This won’t be easy; I had to make sure that you were willing to fight for us. Besides what I said is still true. This will be your only shot at a normal life. Once we start awakening everyone’s memories there will be no turning back. You’ll be stuck with us. I just want to make sure that you really did want to stay with us.”

“That is sweet of you Honey, but like I said you guys are my family. I don’t turn my back on family.”

A knock on the door interrupted the two.

“Takashi and Hanna are here,” Reiko called through the door.

“Thank you we will be out in a minute,” Honey called to his wife. “So are you ready to get your family back?”

“Yes,” Haruhi said as she followed Honey out of the room.

 


	8. Takashi's Duty, Hanna's Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning ahead!!! Warning this chapter has mentions of rape, nothing to graphic but it is still talked about. There will be a **** section that contains the actual material if you wish to skip it you can once you see the **** you can continue reading again.

The room filled with an awkward silence as Honey and Haruhi entered the room.  Takashi and Hanna were sitting across from Fuyumi and Rieko. The Natural type host felt Takashi’s questioning gaze on her, he considered her carefully but not speaking. Hanna began to fidget next to her husband obviously becoming more agitated the closer Haruhi got.

“Well now that Haruhi is here I guess we could stop with the pleasantries and get down to business.” Fuyumi spoke as Haruhi took her seat next to her soon to be sister-in-law.

“What is that?” Takashi’s smooth voice filled the room.

Haruhi looked over at the couple and found what they were looking for right away. Hanna had the flower pined to the collar of her shirt, while Takashi’s was attached to the sleeve of his jacket as a cuff link.

“Well you each have something in your possession that is rather dangerous,” Reiko said as she pulled on the purple gloves.

“What kind of dangerous?” Hana asked as her fidgeting began to worsen; Takashi reached over and placed an arm around his wife. She began to relax again.

“It affects your memory,” Reiko spoke calmly as the stood up.

Walking over to Takashi, she quickly grabbed the flower and, upon seeing this Hanna gasped while the briefest flicker of shock ran across Takashi’s face. Coming over to Hanna, Reiko held her hands up, shaking slightly Hanna reached out and grabbed her husband’s hand. After several minutes she nodded her head, and closed her eyes. As quickly as possible Reiko removed the flower off of Hanna and slowly backed away. Turning to Fuyumi she dropped the flowers in the open sliver bag that the Ootori held.  A loud zap filled the room as the flowers fell in.

Haruhi looked over at the Wild type host; he had not been paying attention to the bag as he was focus on his shaking wife. Takashi pulled his wife in to a tight embrace as Hanna sobbed in to his chest. After several minutes of silence the crying stopped. _I hate seeing her like this, but right now it is unavoidable._ Haruhi thought as she watched Hanna’s normal reaction to being touched by most people. Turning back to the rest of the group she wiped the tears from her eyes with a shaking hand.

“What’s going on?” Takashi asked as he allowed his wife a moment to calm down.

“Takashi we all forgot someone very important to us,” Honey said quietly.

“Who?” Takashi asked, looking over to his cousin.

“Haru-chan,” Honey said looking over at Haruhi.

Takashi followed his cousin’s gaze towards the petite girl siting in between Reiko and the Ootori.

“Who is that?” Hanna asked as her breathing finally returned to normal, as she removed her hand s from her face. 

“It’s me,” Haruhi said quietly.

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Hana spoke up panic creeping in. Takashi reached over and grabbed her hand and gently stroking the back of it with his thumb.

“Because I know things about both of you that no one else does,” Haruhi spoke quietly.

“What is that?” Takashi asked as he continued to hold on to his wife’s hand.

“Takashi… you have always been able to beat Honey.”

_The crowed that had surrounded the group began to disperse, leaving Takashi alone with the female host._

_“You know it looked like it didn’t take much at all for you to beat Honey- sempai,” Haruhi said as she straightened the collar of her jacket. “In fact I would say that you drew that fight out much longer than needed.”_

_Takashi looked over at the small girl, placing his hands in to the belt of his gi. Taking a deep breath he simply nodded his head._

_“So my question is why?”_

_He chuckled slightly at her straightforward question, after several minutes of contemplation he spoke,_

_“Mitsukuni is, very strong and talented, but there are many members in the Haninozuka family that feel due to his appearance and personality that he is not fit to be the next head of the family.”_

_“So you’re saying that you have always held back?”_

_Takashi nodded his head as he turned to face the small girl._

_“He can beat me; the first time it happened was when he found out what I was doing. But things are not always as they appear. Just like Mitsukuni, I have gotten stronger and stronger. He has tried to stop me but I know that despite his opposition to the idea it does improve his standing in the family.”_

_“So you put as much as you can in to every match to fight against him, but in the end you will take a fall,” Haruhi said understanding filling her voice. “Don’t worry your secret is safe with me”_

_Takashi looked down as the girl and smiled, ruffing her hair as he walked back towards the school._

A sharp intake of breath drew everyone’s attention to the Kendo champion.  Covering his eyes with one of his hands, Takashi sat there for several moments finally looking up he spoke.

“Haruhi,” Takashi’s voice filled with such sorrow. His eyes began to water, standing up he pulled the natural type host in to his arms. There was no need for words as Haruhi understood his silent nature. Setting her back down on the floor he ruffled her hair, both chuckling quietly. 

Looking back over at the very confused Hanna, Haruhi let out a strained breath. _God I wish I didn’t have to do this, s_ he thought as she clasped her hands in front of her body.

“Hanna… I… you…” Haruhi was struggling she had already thrown one bomb into the marriage of one of her friends and she didn’t want to do it again. _But I can’t ask everyone to leave, she doesn’t like to be alone, and she doesn’t remember me._

Looking over at Honey and pleading with her eyes. He nodded his head as he reached out for his wife.

“Come on let’s give them some privacy,” Honey spoke.

Fuyumi and Reiko stood to leave, walking out the door, and Honey nodded towards Haruhi. He knew that what she had to say was big. _It’s probably about that bastard._ He thought as he shut the door. Hanna clutched on to her husband’s arm, visibly shaking at being alone with a perceived stranger.

“Hanna, I am not going to hurt you,” Haruhi spoke a soothingly as she could. “In fact we are really good friends. You have been the biggest help in planning my wedding. And you’re even okay with being alone with me.”

Hana still clung to her husband still unconvinced.

“Hanna…. You can’t have any children.”

_Haruhi walked up to the door of the Morinozuka estate. It had been a little over a month since Takashi had come home from working abroad in London and when he had returned he had come back married. Knocking on the door she was greeted by Satoshi._

_“Haruhi-sempi, what are you doing here?” Satoshi asked._

_“Your brother called and asked if I would have tea with Hanna today. He said that she wanted to try and meet some of his friends and he thought I would be the easiest one for her to adjust to,” Haruhi spoke as the younger Morinozuka nodded his head._

_“Come in,” he moved so that she could walk in to the door. “Hanna is in the garden, Taka said that she used to own a flower company, before…” his words died off as they reached the garden._

_Hanna was sitting in the Gazebo with her back turned towards them. A pair of pruning shears in her hand, she was trimming a bush when all of a sudden she turned. Slight alarm filled her eyes. Satoshi cleared his throat before speaking._

_“ **Hanna, this is Haruhi Fujioka. She is a friend of Taka’s. She means you no harm. Is it alright if she visits with you?”**_  

_After several quiet moments a small voice filled the air,_

_“Yes” a soft voice filled the air._

_Nodding his head, he turned and took the tray of tea and snacks form the servant who had stepped outside._

_“Take this with you,” he said quietly handing her the tray. “If she starts staring off in to space and hyperventilating, ring this bell,” Satoshi said pointing to the small bell on the tray. “Don’t try to comfort her, and don’t touch her.”_

_Nodding her head she watched Satoshi turn and walking in to the house, she noticed a flash of dirty blond hair and glasses. Smiling slightly she knew Satoshi would be occupied for a little while. Slowly, walking towards the gazebo she remembered what Takashi had told her when approaching Hanna. Quietly she set the tray down on the low table. Placing her hands on her bag she opened it and left it so that Hanna could see that all it held were some files and her wedding binder._

_“ **Hi, I am Haruhi it’s nice to meet you,”** she said placing her hands on the table._

_Hanna nodded her head as she looked over the tray, opening the pot she cautiously looked in and let out a relieved breath._

_“I would very much like to practice my Japanese if that is alright with you,” Hanna said quietly. Haruhi nodded her head as she poured Hanna and herself a cup of tea._

_“So, how are you liking it here in Japan?”_

_“It’s, nice. It would be nice if I had someone I could talk to about things,” she said quietly._

_“Yeah, Takashi mentioned that you don’t have much family.”_

_“Yes, my parents died in a car crash when I was seven and my grandparents took me in after that.” Hanna spoke a little firmly._

_“My mother died when I was five, I know how hard it can be.”_

_“Yes, well thankfully they took good care of me but…”_

_“You miss them.”_

_“Yes, though I couldn’t stay with them anymore, I couldn’t stay there. I never felt safe afterwards…”  Hanna’s voice began to shake as she spoke._

_“You don’t have to say anything.” Haruhi tried to reassure the trembling girl._

_“No, the only way to move on is to takeback control, and to do that I need to talk about it.”_

_“Yes, but this is the first time we have spent together.”_

_“True but Takashi trusts you, and he said you could handle hearing what I have to say.”_

_They both sat in silence for a while; soon Hanna took a deep breath and began._

_******** Skip able section starts now**********_

 

_“I had just started my second semester at University. I was taking business classes in the hope to take over my grandmother’s floral shop. That where I met Carrie. We became fast friends, one day she texted me to meet her down town at a popular pub. I went not thinking anything of it. As the night wore on she got drunker and drunker. I am not much for drinking so I only had one pint. She had invited some guys she knew to hang out with us. They were already smashed when they arrive._

_“They were hitting on me all night. I kept blowing them off. Then I caught one of them trying to spike my drink with something. I got so pissed. When I confronted Carrie about it she said that I need to loosen up.” Hanna paused as she clutched her fists together, “I decided to call it a night. As I was walking home I got the feeling that someone was following me. Turing around I saw the guy from the Pub and they had Carrie with them. The next thing I knew. They grabbed me.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks and Hanna’s breath began to shake._

_“I tried to fight but there was just so many of them. And then…” Hanna began to sob. Haruhi looked over the girl and began to reach for the bell. Hanna shook her head and continued to speak. “Carrie said I need to loosen up, so she grabbed a bottle from the alley that we were in, and they….”  Sobs began to rack her body not know what to go Haruhi reached a hand over to the sobbing girl. Placing it right in front of her hand she waited until Hanna grabbed it herself. Squeezing her hand slightly._

_“Then one of the guys said the bottle shouldn’t be the only one to have all the fun…” tears continued to roll down her cheeks as the sobs continued to come._

_“It’s okay, it’s all over. They are all locked away on another continent. They can’t reach you.” Haruhi spoke quietly. She knew the rest of the story._

_Takashi had been taking a late night stroll when he heard a scream. Going to see what was happened he found a group of guys hold down a small girl as she struggled against the one on that was raping her, as a passed out girl lay next to the group. He stepped in and contained the men, calling the police and explained what happened. As the police arrived they found a trembling Hanna clinging on to Takashi like her life depended on it. The guys tried to press charges against Takashi but after a tape had been found of the entire incident the case was dropped._

_********* Skip able section ends now********_

 

_“No you don’t understand,” she said between sobs_

_“What?”_

_“I just got a call from my Doctor. It turns out that the bottle had some kind of bacteria on it. I don’t remember what it was called. But the bacteria had reached my ovaries. They cleared up the infection but not before the damage was already done.”_

_“What damage?”_

_“I can never have children.” Hanna said as a new wave of sobs wracked her body._

_Haruhi moved over to sit next to the girl, all the while keeping a hold of the crying girl’s hand. As the crying stopped the Natural type spoke._

_“What?”_

_“I can never have children, and I don’t know how to tell my husband. Takashi has been so kind and understanding. We have been married for almost six months and we still haven’t slept together, but he is so kind and patient. Things are starting to get better, but I know he wants a family, he wants children and I can’t give that to him. After everything he has done for me and I can’t give him the one thing I know he wants.” Tears threaded down her cheeks as Hanna reached out and wrapped her arms around a stunned Haruhi._

_Carefully she lightly wrapped her hands around the crying girl,_

_“It’s all right; I’ll help you find a way to tell him.”_

Hanna gasped as she let go of Takashi’s arm and placed her hands on the side of her head. As she blinked she looked up and recognized Haruhi. But as the moment cleared she realized just what had been said and dropped to her knees sobbing.

“Takashi, I am so sorry, I could never find a way to tell you. I don’t want to lose you but I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay with someone as broken as me,” she sobbed in to her hands. 

Slowly Takashi knelt down next to his wife; placing a few fingers under her chin he raised her head up to look at him. Tears streaming in his eyes, she gasped as he pulled her in to his arms. Clutching his wife tightly he quietly cried on to her shirt. Slowly backing away Haruhi walked out of the room. Quietly shutting the door behind her, turning she found Honey, Rieko and Fuyumi standing in the hallway as quiet sobs form the other room reached their ears.

“I take it things didn’t go well?” Fuyumi asked as she saw the tears rolling down Haruhi’s own cheeks.

“As well as can be expected.” She said quietly wiping away her own tears _._

“We have something to tell you,” Honey spoke in a serious tone.

“What’s that?” Haruhi asked as she noticed that they had all seemed to be discussing something before she had walked out.

“Well we all agreed that Kyoya will be the hardest to get to,” Fuyumi began.

“Yes, what’s your point?” the Natural type said as she looked over the group.

“We found a window of opportunity.”

 


	9. Meanwhile....

_Twelve hours earlier…._

Kyoya groaned as he felt the bright rays of light hit his face. _Damn it how did I let myself get dragged in to that club,_ he thought as he felt his head pounding. Slowly he got up looking around the room something seemed off. He was in his room at the main estate but something felt wrong. Shrugging it off as the remanence of a hangover, he quietly turned on the shower.  After a needed shower he went over to the wardrobe to change but when he opened it he found that the clothes within were clothes he hadn’t seen since high school.

Trying to put on a shirt, he grumbled at the stiffness of the back. _Where the hell are my suits?_ he thought as he gave up looking for a jacket. Having less trouble with the pants and shoes, he finished getting ready as there was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” he spoke as the door opened to revealing a maid.

“Sir, a Mr. Sohma has called reminding you of your meeting at ten.”

Looking over at the clock Kyoya inwardly cursed noticing the time. _Damn it I am already late._

“Please get my driver ready,” he ordered the maid bowed and quietly walked out the door.

Passing his sister in the hallway, he quickly made his way towards the front entrance.  Sliding in to the waiting limo, pulling out the tablet he read through the latest updates on all of his stocks, and made a not to call his broker about purchasing a stock in a new company. As the car began to stop he closed down his tablet and exited the car.

The restaurant was busy. Making his way over to the hostess, he gave the name of his party and followed as she began to lead the way. Sitting at a table for four was Mr. Sohma. Taking a drink of his coffee he noticed his companion coming, standing he shook Kyoya’s hand.

“Mr. Sohma, I am terribly sorry for the delay. I am afraid that several of my friends insisted we celebrate my stag night last night,” Kyoya apologized.

“That’s quiet all right; after all you are marrying my daughter in a week. I would rather have you get all of your parting out of the way before then,”   he spoke placing his hand on the chest of Kyoya, the cool type host felt a sudden zap but shrugged it off.

“Yes well, it would be rather improper of me to do so,” Kyoya said carefully.

_Something feels wrong._ Kyoya thought as had begun to think of his future father-in-law all he could picture was a man with long red hair dressed in drag. Shaking the thought from his mind he turned his attention to the man sitting across from him, _maybe I am still drunk._  

“Yes well I am having a little trouble with a few of my companies in Europe and I was wondering if you would do an audit for me,” Mr. Sohma spoke as both men sat down.

“Well I would be glad to, as soon as we are back from our honeymoon...”

“I am afraid that this is an urgent matter that needs to be handled now,” Mr. Sohma interrupted.

“What about the wedding?” Kyoya asked.

“If you leave tonight then you should be back just in time for the ceremony at six,”the other man insisted, trying to reassure Kyoya.

_“_ Well if you say this matter is urgent I will leave tonight,” the shadow king spoke but something felt wrong.

_Promise me that you won’t go running off on business the week before the wedding._ The female voice he didn’t recognize filled his head as a sense of dread filled him.

“Excellent, ah Yoshio!” Mr. Sohma spoke loudly pulling Kyoya from his thoughts.

Kyoya stood up, greeting his father.  The shadow king noticed the briefest flicker of panic run across Mr. Sohma’s face as the group sat down.

“Well Mr. Sohma I hope that everything is in order?” Yoshio began as Kyoya looked at his phone.

“Sorry to interrupt father, but if I am to leave tonight I must get back to the office and finalize some paperwork,” the two elder men nodded their heads as Kyoya stood to leave.

Walking out of the restaurant and in to the waiting car, Kyoya took serval deep breaths. Looking at his phone he found a ridiculous number of texts from one person

“I swear Tamaki, I have no idea why is stayed friends with you,” he mumbled as he hit the dial button on his phone.

After several rings, the line was picked up.

“Hello, Kyoya! How are you this morning?” the Half French man’s exuberant voice filled the phone that Kyoya had wisely left away from his ear.

“Tamaki, may I ask why you are trying to get in contact with me?” the annoyance ringing plainly in Kyoya’s cool voice.

“Yes well I had the strangest phone call earlier,” the princely type spoke.

“Yes what is that?”

“Well, it was from a girl. She said her name was Haruhi and she started to ask me a question about you. But I don’t know anyone by that name do you?”

At hearing the name a fluttering feeling filled Kyoya’s chest, it unnerved him.

“No I can’t say that I do,” Kyoya spoke quietly.

“Yes, well to make things even stranger, she called me on my personal number and claimed that I gave it to her.”  

_“_ Tamaki did she give you a last name?”

“No, I hung up soon after though. What if it is a stalker?” Tamaki asked as panic began to creep in to his voice.

Pinching the bridge of his nose Kyoya took a deep breath trying to calm down the anger welling up inside of him, as Tamaki continued his mindless chatter. 

“Have you even thought that it may be a prank pulled by the twins?” Kyoya spoke interrupting the blonde.

“Oh, I guess your right Mon Ami,” the cheerfulness returning to his voice.

“Okay now, if you will excuse me I have to go.”

“Alright Kyoya see you at your wedding,” Tamaki shouted in to the phone.

Hanging up the phone Kyoya sighed as he glanced out the window. Rolling down the divider, he spoke,

“Tabachian, I need you to pack a bag for me I will be gone till Saturday. Please see to it that the plane is ready as well. I will be departing a ten tonight.”

“Yes sir.” The man spoke as the divider was raised.

Sitting back in his seat, Kyoya sighed as a thought came to mind.  A short girl, with a pixie cut brown hair, large brown eyes and a luminescent smile _._

* * *

 

Mr. Sohma walked through the halls of his office, the staff doing their best to get out of the way of the man who seemed to be rather upset. Walking in to his office he noticed his chair turned towards the window.

“Hello, Father,” the feminine voice called as she turned in the chair towards the man who entered the door. 

“Jun, what are you doing here?” he asked his daughter, her long blonde hair spilling over her shoulders, absent mildly played with the ends.

_Why Kyoya preferred that mousy commoner to my beautiful daughter is beyond me._ Mr. Sohma thought as he studied his child. _I knew she would be of use to me someday._

“Well I came to see how you were and then I found out that you were at lunch with the Ootoris.” Jun placed her chin on her fist as she leaned back and asked, “How is my fiancé?”

“We have a problem. It seems that Fujioka girl is just as much trouble as her mother,” he spat remembering the times Kotoko Fujioka had gotten in his way.

“And?” Jun asked raising her eyebrow in confusion.

“And? Do you not realize the implications? If she reawakens all of their memories, we are done. These flowers won’t work on them anymore and she already has at least two!”  Mr. Sohma said shouting at his daughter who didn’t even bat and eye at the harsh tone in his voice.  

“How do you know?” her cockiness was seriously starting to anger him.

“Well, I am having her followed and it seems that she went in to a place called the black Magic club.”

“That place is owned by the Nekozawas. What do they have to do with this?” she asked irritation in her voice.

“My dear, they employ Rieko Haninozuka. I can guarantee that by tonight that both the Haninozukas and the Morinozukas will not be in our control.” Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small glass flower and placed it on the desk.

“Why did you take this? You know its effect start to wear off as so at their gone!” Jun shouted as she snatched the flower off the desk and inspected it.

“It was the only way; if they completely neutralize it then it’s only a matter of time,” he grumbled as he took a seat on the edge of the desk.

“She doesn’t have that kind of capability,” Jun said firmly

“No, but she was in the company of Warehouse agents, as well as Kyoya’s sister.” Mr. Sohma growled in anger.

Jun’s eyes widen in alarm as she stands, gently holding on to the flower.  Walking towards the large window that over looked the city. Silence filled the room for several tense moments.

“What about Yoshiro?” Jun asked quietly.

“His flower was already gone.”

Jun cursed under her breath as she thought on the situation, they found themselves in.

“Kyoya wasn’t wearing this long enough. His bond is too strong to that girl and he will figure out something is wrong. He will start digging.”

“Don’t worry I sent him out of the country, he won’t be back until just before the wedding. Just keep that flower on your person so that they can’t get their hands on it.” Noticing how tense his daughter is he chuckled and continued, “Don’t worry, once the clock strikes six on Saturday it will be too late.”

“I wish we could change some of the wedding plans. That beach house is far too open, she could easily slip in. And if she gets all of those idiots on her side they are bound to help. Why they choose that place for the wedding I’ll never know.”

“Just focus on being a beautiful bride and I will take care of the rest,” Mr. Sohma said as he stood to dig through some files.

“Don’t worry, I will do everything to make sure our plan succeeds,” she said turning to walk out of the office. An eerie light gleaned off the pearl and gold pendant she wore.  

 


	10. The First Date

Haruhi fidgeted nervously as the car sped towards the plane hangar.  Honey had informed her that Kyoya was leaving on business and would be gone all week, so she was racing to stop him.

“So I was wondering how it was that you to started dating my brother?” Fuyumi asked from across the limo.

Since he was leaving from the family’s private hanger, Fuyumi had come along to run interference. The rest of the group was going to collect the Americans and meet back at Haruhi’s apartment.

“Well, to be honest it started with a lesson that turned in to a dare.”

_Haruhi sat in the limo as; the twins had pulled out sketch books and were oddly quiet. The weekend at the beach house hadn’t turned out like she had hoped. As she ran through the events of the past few days in her head she came to a shocking conclusion._

_“That Bastard!” she gasped._

_The twins looked up from their drawings and at the female host._

_“Did you say something Haruhi?” Kaoru asked._

_“Just remembering I missed a sale at the super market,” she lied as a sheepish grin appeared on her face._

_“If that’s all, we can stop by the commoner’s super market on our way home and Kaoru and I will pay for whatever you need,” Hikaru said as he returned his attention to his drawing._

_Haruhi chuckled slightly as she sat back in her seat; ‘Oh he is in so much trouble when I see him tomorrow’. She thought as the limo continued towards her home._

_The next day she waited patiently until the end of club to talk with the Shadow King. As the rest of the hosts left, Haruhi walked out of the kitchen and towards the youngest Ootori._

_“I believe you owe me an apology,” she said firmly as she reached his table._

_“Whatever for?” he asked calmly not looking up from his laptop._

_“For that lesson you gave me at the beach house,” the natural type informed Kyoya as a light blush crept across her face remembering the sight of the youngest Ootori pinning her to his bed._

_Kyoya stopped his typing mid-sentence and, looking up, he stared at her. The glare in his glasses hid any emotion that filled his eyes. After several moments he smirked and began to speak,_

_“I thought you understood the reason behind it, so why should I apologies for my actions?”_

_“Because what you did was worse than Tamaki-sempai did,” Haruhi spoke as she crossed her arms in front of her chest._

_“Come again?”_

_“You all flipped out when you found us the next morning  in your room, and yet you still don’t see anything wrong with your actions, but you left that Baka at the beach house to find his own way home,”_

_Even after Haruhi had explained that the blindfold she was wearing was only being used to help alieve her fear of the lighting storm that had been raging all night; the rest of the Host club had still found the entire situation unsavory._

_“Yes, but then again you understood my actions; you didn’t with our illustrious King’s,” Kyoya said returning to his computer, leaving Haruhi standing staring at him in shock._

_“Why are you lying?” she asked after several minutes._

_“I can assure you…” Kyoya spoke as he stood up._

_“NO! Don’t you dare. I know you are lying to me so I want the truth and an apology,” Haruhi shouted._

_Kyoya stood there staring down at the natural type blankly; soon a devilish grin appeared on his face turning he began to pack up his laptop._

_“I’ll tell you what I will tell you everything you want to know but first you have to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night,” he spoke casually as he turned back towards Haruhi, his laptop case slung on his shoulder._

_“What?”_

_“If you want to know the truth then I suggest you accept my offer. Or are you scared?” Kyoya smirked._

_“Yeah right,” she scoffed._

_“All right then I will be looking forward to tomorrow night.”_

_Haruhi blinked as she watched the Shadow King leave the room. After several minutes she shook her head, leaving quickly she ran home. As she neared her apartment complex she noticed a limo sitting in front of her building.  As she began climbing the stairs she was met with a man in a suit holding a garment bag._

_“Miss Fujioka?” the man asked._

_“Yes?”_

_“This is for you, the young master as instructed to give this to you and inform you that he will be by a 6:30 to pick you up,” the man said holding out the bag._

_Rolling her eyes she took the bag and quickly shut the door in the man’s face. After making her way back to her bedroom, she threw her school bag on her bed, and hung the garment bag on the back of her door. Sitting down across from the bag Haruhi stared at it for several minutes._

_After a while Haruhi stood and walked towards the bag pulling down the zipper._

_“You have got to be kidding me!” she shouted._

_Late the next day, Haruhi stood in front of the mirror. Fidgeting in the dress she looked over herself again. The dress wasn’t very long, in fact it only reached her mid-calf. The empire waist was accentuated with sparkling white stones, which she was afraid to ask if they were real or not. The hug shoulder neckline fell off into three quarter length sleeves. Thankfully Kyoya had known better than to expect her to wear heels and given her a pair of midnight blue flats to match the dress._

_Soon she heard a knock on the door. Looking at the time she grabbed the white lace shawl that had come with the dress and walked towards the door. Opening it, she found Kyoya standing there in a tuxedo, He looked her up and down, sending sent a shiver down her spine. Both stood there silently for several moments simply gazing at each other. Soon Kyoya cleared his throat looking away before speaking._

_“Shall we go?” he asked holding his arm out to her._

_Taking it, Haruhi walked out the door and locked it. Both walked down towards the waiting limo. After climbing in the cab it was filled with a slight awkward silence._

_“So where are we going?” Haruhi asked trying to defuse the tension._

_“It’s the birthday of one of my father’s business associates, and since he cannot attend he asked me to represent the Ootori group,” Kyoya spoke plainly, as he adjusted his glasses._

_“Then why invite me?”_

_“My father has stated that now that I am in high school, I will need an escort to any events I should attend.”_

_“Oh,” Haruhi sighed quietly as she looked out the window._

_Soon the car pulled up to a grand estate. As the pair got out they were immediately greeted by several businessmen. Haruhi clung to Kyoya’s arm quietly, as they men talked business._

_“Well Kyoya, you must introduce us to this lovely creature on your arm,” one of the men asked._

_“Certainly, this is Miss Haruhi Fujioka,” Kyoya said gesturing towards the natural type host._

_“Fujioka, I have never heard of that name. Tell me girl what business is your family in?” one of the men spoke up speaking towards Haruhi, as every head in the group turned their attention towards her._

_“My family isn’t in business,” she said firmly._

_“Well then how did you end up on the arm of the young Ootori here?” another asked._

_“I met him at school. I am a scholarship student at Ouran Academy,” Haruhi spoke standing up a little straighter._

_“Highly ambitious, there to snag a rich husband are you?” anther said in a laugh as others joined in._

_“Actually, I am there to fulfill my own ambition to become a lawyer like my mother,” Haruhi said calmly, as the laughter dispensed._

_Looking over at Kyoya she almost missed the smug smirk that filled his face at the other’s expense._

_“If you will excuse us, we need to make the rounds,” Kyoya spoke calmly as he pulled Haruhi away. She could tell he was happy to be out of their company._

_As the night wore on they circled the room twice, every once in a while stopping to dance or talk to anyone that mattered. Late in the evening, Kyoya received a phone call that he had to take, leaving Haruhi on her own. She made her way over toward the table with mountains of food._

_“Who could eat all this? It seems like such a waste,” she spoke quietly._

_“I agree, but such is the nature of these parties,” a man spoke as he stood next to her._

_“In my experience, there should be a better way of dealing with this,” Haruhi spoke firmly._

_“Maybe but for the people who attend these parties they don’t know any better,” the man said in a slightly bitter tone._

_“True, but I think I could pay a year’s worth of bills for what this party must cost,” she said flatly._

_“You must be the scholarship student I have heard so much about,” the man said with a chuckle._

_“I don’t know what you heard, but I am a scholarship student at Ouran Academy,” Haruhi spoke firmly._

_“I hear you want to be a lawyer,” the man said a smile gracing his face._

_“Yes,” she said proudly._

_“Do you have a summer internship lined up?” he inquired reaching in to his pocket._

_“No sir, but I was under the impression that a firm wouldn’t take me until I was in college.”_

_“That is true but I think for you I could make an exception. Getting in to Ouran on scholarship is no easy feat and I am sure someone as bright as you could handle it,” the man said handing her his business card._

_Looking it over it read; Hayate Ito, Attorney at Law._

_“Thank you Mr. Ito, I will consider your offer and give you a call,” Haruhi said. As she grippe d the card, Haruhi felt an arm wrap around her shoulder from the left._

_“Mr. Ito, I was just looking for you. I hope your party has been a pleasant one?” Kyoya asked, and soon Haruhi found herself internally panicking._

_‘Oh no this is his party?’ She thought._

_“It was rather dull until I was able to have a lovely chat with your charming date, Kyoya,” Mr. Ito spoke cheerfully._

_“I am glad to hear that, but unfortunately we must be going. It is getting rather late and we both have school tomorrow.”_

_“Ah yes, thank you both for attending. And Miss. Fujioka I hope to be hearing from you soon,” he said shaking not only Kyoya’s hand but Haruhi’s as well.  As they turned to leave Mr. Ito spoke again._

_“Kyoya I hope to be see more of Miss. Fujioka. She is much better company than the women your brothers keep.” He said civilly._

_The two teenagers made their way through the party and out to the limo. As soon they had gotten on to the main road Kyoya spoke._

_“What did you and Mr. Ito talk about?”  he asked almost harshly._

_“Nothing much, we mostly talked about school.”_

_“What did he mean when he said that he hoped to hear from you?”_

_“He offered me an internship with his firm over the summer. Even while I am in high school,” she said carefully hoping not to upset him further._

_“Damn it,” Kyoya cursed as he stared out the window at the city as they rode past._

_“What?”_

_“Mr. Ito runs one of the top firms in the country, and he is head of the Ootori family’s legal team. The fact that he took such an interest in you is not that surprising,” Kyoya spoke bitterly._

_“Then what is the problem?” Haruhi asked._

_“He is going to tell my father about this…”_

_“And?” she interrupted._

_“And my father will not take this lightly,” he said groaning._

_“Kyoya, why did you bring me to this? You could have chosen someone else?”_

_“Honestly, I was hoping that you would make a good impression on Mr. Ito. I just didn’t think he would take to you so well.” Kyoya responded._

_“Why is that a bad thing?” Haruhi asked, surprised at how easily he was letting his guard down._

_‘He must be really shocked if he is actually giving me straight answers’, she thought as she watched Kyoya milling over whatever worries or thoughts were running through his head. He removed his glasses with one hand, pinching the bridge of his nose with the other._

_Taking a deep breath he answered her question,_

_“He said that you were better company then the women my brothers date.”_

_“And?”_

_“Haruhi, my brothers only date women my father approves of. They are engaged to the same women. My father will take this as an attempt to overstep my bounds,” Kyoya spoke as he returned his glasses to their home._

_“Kyoya you’re not making much sense.”_

_“As the third son, I must play my part carefully. My father will see this as an act of defiance,” he said as if she should already know this._

_“Why?”_

_“My place in my family is delicate; I must exceed my brothers if I want to gain the spot as head of the family but I have to be subtle about it.”_

_“Kyoya why do you care?” Haruhi asked._

_“Because I want to be the CEO of the company.”_

_“Why not start your own?” she asked bluntly._

_“What?” Kyoya looked up at her in surprise._

_“It seems to me that you go through an awful lot of trouble just to please your father. And in the end you’re not happy. If being a CEO of a company is that important to you then build your own. You’re more than capable of running your own, so my question is why are you spending so much time holding yourself back?”_

_“I don’t hold myself back,” he said proudly._

_“Hmm, who would have thought that the Shadow King was in denial,” she said as the limo parked in front of her apartment complex._

_“What?”_

_“Goodnight Kyoya,” Haruhi said as she stepped out of the car leaving the stunned cool type host alone in the limo._

“Really? How long was your relationship just for the purpose of Kyoya getting ahead?” Fuyumi asked as they neared the hanger.

“A few months. Just before the fair, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. Kyoya had been asking me to every event that Mr. Ito was going to.  At the last party, someone pointed out how attached I had become to Kyoya and it freaked me out, so I backed away. Kyoya didn’t take it well; it was almost a year before he even broached the subject with me, and that was because of Tamaki.”

“Haruhi why haven’t you awoken my memories?” Fuyumi asked looking over at the small girl.

“Because I don’t know what it will take. With the others, I just looked at them and I just knew. I can’t really explain it. I know so much about everyone’s lives, but for whatever reason I am drawing a blank when it comes to you,” Haruhi said as she stared out the window, seeing the readied plane being loaded up. _We almost didn’t make it,_ she thought.

“Maybe it’s because we haven’t neutralized the flower that erased my memories,” the Ootori offered.

“Maybe,” Haruhi said as the car began to slow down, “But right now I have a fiancé to save.”  

 


	11. Let the Fight Begin

The sound of a car screeching to a halt caused Kyoya to turn around. Haruhi leapt out of the car and began running towards her fiancé.

“Kyoya, where are you going?!” she shouted as she continued running towards Kyoya , stopping when she was several feet away from him.

  _Damn it it’s gone_ , she thought as she looked over his person for the glass flower.

“I think the more pertinent question is who are you?” he asked calmly, as he watched his sister step out of the car that the girl in front of him had come out of.

_What is my sister doing here?_ he thought as he watched the small girl began to laugh bitterly as she caught her breath before speaking. 

“Who am I? Kyoya you promised me you wouldn’t leave the week before the wedding.” Haruhi said firmly.

_Promise me you won’t run away on business the week before the wedding_ , the voice rang in his head as he stared down at the small girl whose voice matched the one in his head.

“I made no such promise,” he said shaking his head trying to rid himself of the voice that had plagued him since he had agreed to take this trip.

“Kyoya Ootori don’t you dare lie to me!” Haruhi shouted as she watched his eyes flicker with the briefest traces of shock.

Kyoya blinked several times. _How did she know?_ he thought.

“I don’t know how you got here, but I have to leave,” he tried to threaten but this just seemed to agitate the petite girl, as rage began to run in her large expressive eyes.

“Leave?! We are in the middle of an argument and you’re just going to leave!” she bellowed.

“Yes, and do you know why? It’s because I don’t know you!” he said leaning down to shout in her face.

“Ohh really, because I have seen you walk out in the middle of and argument before and it didn’t end well, but for whatever reason you are standing right there and still shouting at me,” Haruhi growled as she watched him pinch the bridge of his nose allowing his glasses to fall down.

“Well maybe it’s because you are shouting at me. Have you ever thought of that?” Kyoya continued as he righted his glasses.

_Why am I indulging this girl? I have to leave,_ he thought. But the knowing feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he needed to stay and have it out with this strange girl.

“Don’t you dare start with that; this argument is getting off topic,” she said trying to remember what her father had told her about fighting in a relationship.

“We are not having an argument; it takes two people to argue.”

“You started it, that’s one and you started it with me that’s two,” Haruhi said as she counted them each off on her fingers the engagement ring glittering in the lights.  

_Mother’s ring?_   the cool type thought as he gazed as the family heirloom that had found its way on this girl’s finger.  Snatching her left wrist with his right hand he went to take the ring off her finger but Haruhi curled her fingers preventing him.

“Don’t you dare darling, you gave me this ring and over my dead body are you getting it back!” she spat in rage as she broke the hold he had on her wrist.

“I don’t have time for this, Fuyumi see to it that mother’s ring is returned to the vault!” Kyoya shouted as he began walking towards the readied plane.

“Yes, yes run. Run like you always do when things get hard between us. You’re just like your father!” she shouted not caring to pull her punches.

Soon Kyoya stopped, a hole filling in his mind that he didn’t know he had.

_Haruhi was sitting in the third music room, her secret had just been exposed and she now sat uncomfortably in the girl’s uniform.  As the doors to the host club opened, she lifted her head up to see her newly reacquainted boyfriend walking in. The scowl on her face, tore through him. ‘I knew she would be pissed’, he thought._

_“We need to have a discussion,” she said harshly._

_“What about?” Kyoya asked calmly._

_“Don’t play coy with me. You outing me…, to the entire student body.”_

_The venom in her words cutting, but he would do his damndest to make sure she didn’t know that._

_“Well I could not have the entire school think I was gay and you didn’t want to hide our relationship.”_

_“That doesn’t excuse anything!” she shouted._

_“Haruhi, I thought we talked about this. If you want to have a relationship with me then there are certain things that have to be upheld…” Kyoya spoke trying to calm her down but that just seemed to agitate her more._

_“Upheld? Kyoya, it was my decision whether to tell everyone or not, and you took that decision out of my hands.”_

_“Haruhi…”_

_“No, this is not something that you can talk me in to believing that what you did was okay. This isn’t some trip that Tamaki-sempai wants to take or some cosplay that the twins what me to parade around in. This is my reputation and right now you have just shown everyone that I am a liar!” Haruhi shouted as she stood up._

_“Liar? I explained the situation and everyone is accepting of it. They don’t see what you did as a lie they see it as another event of the host club.”_

_“So great, now I am some act in a three ring circus? What am I going to be paraded around the school like some kind of freak show?  And here sitting in the class room in the fourth row is the amazing Fujioka looks like a boy but guess what it had boobs and a vagina!” she said as she began to stomp toward Kyoya stopping just in front of him._

_“Don’t be vulgar,” Kyoya spoke firmly; the fact that he was being so relaxed really pissed her off even more._

_“Vulgar?!  Your worried about me being vulgar?! On my first day in the host club Tamaki offered to have a guest drink instant coffee from his mouth, and me saying the words boob and vagina are vulgar? Kyoya maybe you shouldn’t go in to a medical business if you can’t handle the use those words,” she spat at him._

_“I am leaving and until you have calmed down to have a rational discussion about this don’t bother calling me,” he said as he began walking towards the door._

_“Don’t you dare leave Kyoya Ootori I am not done speaking to you!”_

_“Really? Because it just seems like your shouting at me!” he growled as he grabbed the door handle._

_Opening it, he found Ranka standing there leaning against the door frame. His long red hair tied back in a low pony tail, suit cleanly pressed and face clean shaven. The angry expression on the Shadow King’s face quickly disappeared as he stared blankly at the man before him._

_“I figure she would be upset, that’s why I came,”  he said calmly as he walked in to the room._

_“Dad? What are you doing here?” Haruhi asked as calmly as she could but her voice still shook in anger._

_“I came to give my daughter and her boyfriend some advice.”_

_“About what sir?” Kyoya asked still avoiding looking at Haruhi._

_“My parents,” the crossdresser said as he took a seat on one of the couches in the room, both teens still standing._

_“Dad?”_

_“You see my parents didn’t like to argue. They would do everything within their power to avoid any topic that could cause one.  So whenever they did argue, every single one of those issues would be brought back up along with the resentments that came about because they refused to talk about anything. I know both of you are young, but I figured that it was best if you learned this lesson now rather than wait forty years.”_

_“What lesson is that?” Kyoya asked._

_“When you fight, follow these few guide lines. One: stay on topic, don’t let your anger get the best of you and make everything worse by bringing up things that aren’t that big of a deal or have nothing to do with why you are fighting in the first place. Two: don’t leave things unsaid, that is where resentments can form.  And three: don’t run away. It may seem like a good idea at the time, giving each other space, and letting the emotions die down, but in the long run you will only make things worse. If you have to, lock yourselves in a room and have at it until  you both have finished.”_

_“Dad, that’s great and all but…” Haruhi began but Ranka interrupted._

_“No but. Haruhi I don’t usually play the dad card but I am right now. You both have such strong personalities that there will be times you clash. But promise me you will both try to follow these rules even if you don’t stay together.”_

_“Sir I…”_

_“Promise.”_

Ranka’s voice filled Kyoya’s head as he stopped walking.

“Rule one…” he said quietly

“What?”

“You broke rule one,” he said quietly his back still turned towards her.

“You are breaking rule three,” she said quietly.

“Well it’s not like it matters. Really as far as I am concerned you are nothing to me my dear,” He growled.

Haruhi stood still, tears streaming down her face as she watched Kyoya walk up the ramp towards the plane’s open door. Just before entering he turned around. Seeing the tear streaked face of the strange girl standing in the hanger broke something inside of him. Growling, he turned and walk in to the plane as the flight attendant shutting the large door behind him. 

Looking out the window while the plane began to make its way towards the runway, a single voice filled his head. _No matter how angry I am with you I will always love you,_ the strange girl’s voice filled his head. A single tear fell down his cheek and he pulled out his laptop, turning it on, and began looking for any information he could find on the girl.

Still standing on the tarmac, watching the plane taxi and begun its take off, Haruhi remained still. After several moments, she felt a hand on her shoulder, but remained standing where she was.

“Did you really have to fight with him like that?” Fuyumi asked as the plane disappeared from sight.

“Yes. The flower wasn’t on him, so since I couldn’t make him remember. I had to make him curious,” Haruhi said her voice finally wavering.

“You know that this could back fire. He could end up hating you,” Fuyumi said as she stood next to the girl as silent tears still fell down her face.

“Not really. I know the memories are starting to fill in for him.” Haruhi spoke as she turned around and began walking back towards the car that they had arrived in.

“How?” Fuyumi spoke as she kept pace with the natural type host.

“He said I was breaking rule one. He would only know what that was if things were piecing together for him, also he called me my dear,” Haruhi spoke calmly. 

“What is the significance of that?” Fuyumi asked.

“Kyoya and I are not fond of pet names; Tamaki was rather against the notion in the first place. So after a week of constant badgering on the Baka’s part, we ended coming up with them. Kyoya calls me my dear, and I refer to him a darling though only when we are cross about something,” the natural type said chuckling.

“Okay, but still did you have to get so heated with him?”

“I said what I had to get him to start looking for me,”

“But do you think it will work?”

“Yes, I just hope he is suspicious enough by the time he comes back.”

“What happens if he is not?” Fuyumi asked.

Haruhi stopped at the open door and looked up in to the star covered sky where the plane had disappeared, before she spoke.

“Well, then we will just have to plan on dealing with a very angry Shadow King.”

 


	12. To Speak of the Past

“Where is Kyo-Chan?” Honey asked as the two women walked in to the apartment.  

The entire ride back to the apartment had been spent in silence as the two woman‘s minds wandered through the events that had happened that day.

“Gone,” Haruhi spoke, her voice hallow.

Fuyumi looked over at the small girl. _She is near her breaking point,_ she thought as she watched Haruhi look over the room with glazed eyes. The group had surrounded themselves around the coffee table several files lying open reveling pictures and various papers with different handwriting on each.

“ **What did you find?”** Fuyumi asked changing the topic.

 “ **Well we found out that the twins had rented out the VIP Room at the club, the reason they walked off was because the owner had some questions for them.  All we can get from the bartenders that worked that it was a normal bachelor party,** ” Myka began a she watched the natural type host stand still her eyes still glazed over.

“ **What is it?** ” Fuyumi asked as she watched Pete scratch his head a troubled look on his face.

“ **It seems like they aren’t telling us something, I didn’t get any vibes like there was an artifact involved but…** ” Pete began.

“ **That club is known for its discretion, they are often bribed by reports to spill secrets about their high profile clients. If any employee is discovered selling any information they are immediately fired,** ” Honey said from his spot on the coach.

“ **Did you at least get the tapes?”** Fuyumi asked as she walked towards the coach leave Haruhi to stand by the door alone.

“ **It took some doing but we got them** ,” Claudia said as she was writing something down in a notebook, a sly smile on her face.

“ **What did you do?** ” Fuyumi asked threating.

“ **Nothing, it’s not like I had to hack their system to get the footage, it was just a perk,** ” the red head said with a mischievous smirk.

“Haruhi?” Hanna called while Fuyumi and Claudia began arguing, the normally silent girl stood to comfort the struggling host.

“I have to go to bed,” she said quietly as she turned and began walking down the hallway.

The two arguing woman stopped as soon as Haruhi had passed by them in a flash. As the click of the latch rang in the quiet apartment the two cousins knowing looked towards each other as Hanna sat back down. Honey sighed deeply as he ran a hand through his blonde locks.

“ **What’s wrong with her?** ” Myka asked.

“They fought didn’t they?” Honey asked soberly.

“Yes,” Fuyumi responded quietly.

“He walked out,” Takashi stated taking Hanna’s hand in his.

“How did you know?” Fuyumi asked looking towards the wild type host.

“Well let’s just say we have seen her like this before,” looking at his watch Honey continued “ **We should go to bed; we have an early day tomorrow.** ”

“ **Should we check on her?”** Claudia asked.

“ **Give her tonight; her world just got turned upside down.  Haruhi is highly independent in fact the only one she really leans on is Kyo-Chan, Takashi and I will check on her in the morning,”** Honey spoke as he took his wife’s hand in his.

The group had decided that separating would be a bad idea, so they all camped out in the apartment. Fuyumi took the security tapes and walked towards the study, _something tells me she won’t be getting much sleep tonight._ Honey thought as he watched the Americans take one room, Takashi and Hanna another. 

“Are you coming Mitsukuni?” Reiko asked as she stood and began to walk towards the hallway. 

“In a minute,” the boy Lolita said quietly as he stared at the wall filled with pictures of the host club.

Silence filled the apartment as the groups settled in for the night, passing by her door Honey paused momentarily as he heard a near silent sob coming through the door. Placing his hand on the door he took a deep breath, as a silent tear rolled down his face.

“Don’t worry Haru-Chan we will get him back.”

    

The early morning sun light beat down on the city as the morning commute filled the district with its usual din. A well dressed man sat in the open patio, a cup of tea sitting in front of him, tapping his manicured fingers on the table as he waited. 

“ **Mr. Fujioka it has been awhile** ,” the woman spoke fondly as she took the seat across form the cross dresser.

“ **Mrs. Fredrick,** ” He said irritation in his voice.

“ **Ranka you must understand….** ” The woman began.

“ **Understand what? You made a promise to me after Kotoko** ,” Ranka interrupted running his fingers through his bangs as he tossed his pony tail over his shoulder.

“ **Yes, I know** ,” the woman spoke seriously as she placed her hands in to her lap.

“ **Then why is it my darling baby girl has been dragged in to a world I have fought to keep her oblivious to**?” He growled slamming his hand on the table causing his drink to rattle.

“ **It was not my doing, Ranka if I could have prevented this I would have. But I have no control over the actions of others,** ” She said trying to defuse the man’s anger.

“ **It was bad enough knowing that she was marring in to a family that had a Warehouse agent in its ranks. Now she is actually hunting down artifacts,** ” He hissed, running a hand over his face. Ranka tried desperately to rein in the anger he held over the situation.

“ **Ranka do you know what she is going after?** ” Mrs. Fredrick spoke after seeing the Ranka had calmed down.

“ **No** ,” He said begrudgingly.

“ **The Barovier flowers** ,” she said gravely as she pulled out a file and placed it on the table.

“ **My god** ,” Ranka whispered as look of shock ran across his face, not even bothering to open the file.

_Well that explains a few things,_ he thought. _But if that is the case then where was the flower that was supposed to be on Yorisho?_

“ **You know about the flowers?”** Mrs. Fredrick asked, looking at him casually.

“ **Kotoko had heard some rumors about them being found, she had only began her research before…** ” Ranka spoke as he nodded his head as he pulled the file towards him. A silent tear rolling down his cheek.

“ **So then you understand why she is hunting them down?** ” She asked carefully hoping to not set off his anger again.

“ **Yes, but that doesn’t change anything,** ” He said frustration leaking back in to his voice as he wiped away the tear.

“ **Ranka…** ”

“ **No! It is because of those damned things that my daughter had to grow up without a mother, and now she is once again following her mother’s footsteps. Only this path leads to nothing but pain and death!** ”  Ranka shouted as he once again slammed his hand down on the table.

“ **Ranka please, she is the only one who can bring these artifacts in. she is the only one that can fix this,”** Mrs. Fredrick pleaded.

“ **Yes I know,** ” He said quietly after serval strained moments.

“ **Then please, let her finish** ,” Mrs. Fredrick begged.

Ranka sat quietly, a frown on his face. He stared down the woman across form him, trying to read her thoughts. He absent mindedly rolled his wedding band, it usually pained him to wear it but with Haruhi’s wedding so close he wanted to wear it to keep his deeply missed wife as close as possible.

“ **Just this once and then you leave us alone. You hear me; the Warehouse will not take the last piece of Kotoko I have left,** ” Ranka spoke after several minutes.

“ **Ranka, Haruhi is not a child you can’t keep her from doing this** **if she wants to,** ” Mrs. Fredrick said firmly as she stood to leave.

“ **Please, she is all I have left** ,” He pleaded with her.

“ **I will do what I can, but you should tell her the truth out her mother** ,” She said after serval quiet minutes.

“ **I suppose she will finally be able to understand** ,” Ranka spoke quietly,

As Mrs. Fredrik began to leave she turned around a spoke once more.

“ **Ranka, Kotoko was one of the finest women I ever had the pleasure of working with**.”

“ **Thank you** ,” Ranka said quietly as he watched the American walk away. 

Opening up the file that lay on the table, he picked up the picture of the flower. Staring at the cursed object’s image, Ranka sighed.

“I guess it is time she knew the truth,”

 


	13. Hikaru's Pain

Haruhi woke to the sound of muttered words coming through the wall, blinking serval time she cursed quietly remembering that she had fallen asleep without removing her contacts. Rubbing her stinging eyes she quietly stumbled to the bathroom.  She filled the empty contact case with solution and after serval minutes of struggling managed to remove both. Hap hazardly she ran a brush through her hair, grabbing her hidden set of emergency sweatpants and sweater she dressed throwing on her glasses as she walked out of her room.

Walking towards the noise she found the group huddled around the coffee table, breakfast sitting out as everyone quietly discussed their plan.

“ **I still think we should go straight to the source of all of this and take them out** ,” Pete said as the group failed to notice the new addition.

“ **I don’t believe that is wise even if we knew for certain that they were behind this, the Sohma’s are a formidable family. We will need proof to take them down** ,” Fuyumi spoke sternly.

Honey looked over a smile graced his face, elbowing his cousin lightly and pointing in Haruhi’s direction a small smile over took the normally stoic face.

“Haru-chan, have you looked at yourself yet?” Honey asked with a laugh.

Turning to look at herself in the mirror she gasped, with the extra-large brown sweater and oversized glasses, she looked just like she did on that fateful day at Ouran. A small smile spread across her face as she turned and spoke.

“As long as there are no antique vases around I think we will be alright,” as she spoke the three hosts in the group laughed as the small joke.

“ **How are you feeling?** ” Myka asked as she pulled another candy from the bag in her hand.

“ **Still a little jumbled but determined** ,” Haruhi said as she grabbed a pillow off the armchair and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

Grabbing a pastry out of the open box, she slowly began to eat.

“ **Come on guys we need a plan of attack** ,” Claudia spoke up.

“ **Well I still think…** ” Pete began

“ **Enough Pete Fuyumi was right. We don’t know who is behind this. For all we know the Sohma’s hired someone to do their dirty work** ,” Myka said as she interrupted her partner.

“ **What about the tapes?** ” Haruhi asked

“ **I spent all night watching them; the only camera near the VIP room is just at the door and the bar. The whole lounge area is hidden in all the footage. All I do know is that when the guys left they all had the flowers on them** ,” Fuyumi said sighing in frustration.

“ **Was there anybody out of place?”** Honey asked

“ **There was one person I couldn’t see their face, but she had a uniform on** ,” The Ootori spoke as she pulled out a picture

“ **What was her hair color?** ” Myka asked.

“ **Red,** ”

Myka pulled out several folders, scanning their content before she spoke.

“ **There are only seven women on staff at the bar; none of them have red hair** ,” Myka said firmly.

“ **They could have died it,** ” Hanna said quietly.

“ **Nope we saw all of the employees, none hair like this** ,” Pete said looking at the picture

“ **Let me see** ,” Haruhi said, as soon as she was handed the picture she gasped. “ **I know who this is but this doesn’t make any sense**.”

Standing up she ran back in to her room grabbing her phone off of the charger, finding the contact she was looking for she pressed the call button. Walking back out in to the living room she as the call went straight to voice mail.

“Ritsu, its Haruhi look, something had happened and I need to speak with you about it. I know you said you would be busy, but can you meet me at the park around six? If I don’t hear from you I’ll assume you’ll be there, ” Haruhi said in a hurry.

Hanging up the phone she nods her head. Handing the picture to Honey who, stared confused at the picture for a moment soon a moment of recognition flashed on his face. Handing the picture to his cousin, he spoke to the natural type host.

“Haru- Chan, how did you know?”

“Mie said that Ritsu had been working at a club recently for something. I don’t know why or for what but she was complaining that he keeps leaving late and ignoring her and leaving the baby in her care,” Haruhi spoke as she was handed back the photo.

“Hopefully he remembers who I am,” She said quietly as she continued to gaze down at the photo.

“ **Okay, so what about the rest of the flowers?** ” Claudia asked.

“ **I have a dress fitting with the twins in an hour, we can get their flowers then and then we can get the ones that their girl’s probably have** ,” Haruhi stood and began to walk towards the hall,

“Where are you going?” Hanna asked.

“Well I don’t want the twins to get their hand on my last good pair of comfy cloths. It’s hard enough hiding them from Kyoya. If the twins knew is still had a pair they’d tear this place apart to look for more,” She said as she shut the door.

Honey laughed, as the group finished their breakfast. After twenty minutes, Haruhi reemerged in a sundress, rubbing her irritated eyes she grumbled as the group began to walk out the door.

* * *

 

“Ahh Miss. Fujioka the young masters are in the work room,” The butler said as she stood in the doorway of the twin’s mansion. A familiar smile graced the old man’s face, _well at least he recognizes me,_ she thought as she stepped through the door way.

Hanna, Rieko, and Fuyumi stood behind her: the plan was for the other hosts to come in after twenty minutes; while the Americans were re-watching the security tapes to see if they had missed anything while Claudia tried to find out how the Sohma’s got ahold of the flowers. The group followed Haruhi as she led the way to the twin’s studio. Opening the door she found them both leaning over a sketch, Kaoru sitting at the desk and Hikaru standing over him.

“Hikaru, I know you have a better eye for accessories than I do but they are over powering the dress,” Kaoru exclaimed as he grabbed an easier and began smudging.

“No but that’s the thing, mom wants a new line that is all about the accessories,” Hikaru said as he grabbed the instrument out of his brother’s hand holding it just out of reach.

“Not to argue with our mother, but are you crazy?!” He asked looking up at his brother.

Clearing her throat Haruhi garnered the attention of the squabbling siblings. Both boys looked up at the same time, both with confused looks gracing their normally childish faces.

“Can we help you?” they both asked at the same time.

“I am here for my dress fitting,” Haruhi said as she looked the twins over, finding their flowers on the suit jacket lapels.

“We don’t take fittings here...” Kaoru began

“We take them at our office…” Hikaru continued

“So, go away,” they both said looking back down at the sketch.

Grumbling under her breath Haruhi marched over to the twins grabbing them by their ears and pulling them around the desk, dragging them across the expansive room towards the seating area as both boys protested loudly.

“I don’t have time for this,” Haruhi said as she threw them on the coach and snatching the pin off their jackets in one fell swoop.

Fuyumi walked up behind her, the open bag in hand. The natural type turned and dropped the flowers in the bag a small spark appearing as they touched the lining.  Both twins blinked in confusion at the odd acutance but soon the confusion was replaced by anger.

“Hey what gives you the right to, treat us this way?!” Hikaru shouted from his place on the coach.

“Yeah, let’s just call security and see how you like it,” Kaoru said as he and his twin pulled out their cell phones in sync.

“Okay, that’s it,” Haruhi said grabbing the boy’s phone out of their hands, tossing them over to Hanna and Rieko.

“Who do you think you are?!” Hikaru shouted as he stood.

“I am Haruhi Fujioka, and despite the idiocy on both your parts you guys are my best friends,” She said irritation in her voice.

“How is that possible…?” Hikaru began

“We have never met you,” Kaoru finished.

“I can prove it,” She said harshly

“How?” they both asked.

“Because I know things about both of you…”

“Yeah right…” Hikaru spat interrupting the natural type host.

“Like we would tell you anything…” Kaoru continued.

“I can prove it,” She said interrupting them.

“Nope first a game…” Kaoru said standing next to his brother.

“And if you win…” Hikaru continued.

“We will listen to whatever you have to say,” they both said as a devious grin began emerging on their faces.

“And what game is that?” Haruhi asked, _although I am sure I already know what the game is,_ she thought.

“Why…” they both said turning around and placing the same hats on their head. “The Which one is Hikaru game!”

“Really?” She asked as the boys began to walk around her as they spoke.

“Yes after all no one has ever won this game,” They spoke as they stopped their circling standing in front of Haruhi.

Haruhi rolled her eyes at their antics. Sighing in defeat loudly she took ten seconds to look the twins over before speaking,

“You’re Hikaru, and you’re Kaoru,” she said pointing to each twin, both blinked quietly for a moment.

“You’re wrong,” they said in unison.

“No I know I am right, I told you both before. You both my act he same but your totally different people,” she said smiling at the memory of the first time they tried to play this game with her.

The twins looked at each other in confusion.

“How did you..?” Kaoru began to asked confusion ringing in his soft voice.

“Ah, lucky guess,” Hikaru interrupted.

“It’s not luck; Haru-Chan has always been able to tell the two of you apart.” Honey’s voice filled the room as he and his cousin walked in.

Takashi stood behind his wife, placing his hands on her waist, as Honey stood next to Haruhi in support.

“Honey-Sempai, you know this person?” Kaoru asked pointing toward the girl in question.

“Just listen to what she has to say,” Takashi said quietly from his spot behind his wife which earned a shrug from both of the twins.

“Hika, Koa….” Haruhi began looking between both boys.

She took several deep breaths trying to calm her own nerves which seemed to send the elder twin in to distress as the suspense.

“Just spit it out!” Hikaru shouted.

“Hikaru you only married Emma because she was pregnant,”

_Haruhi stood on the tarmac waiting for the people to get off the plane. Hikaru had called her the day before and asked that she meet him and his new bride at the hanger. Still reeling over the shock that the playboy bachelor Hikaru was had actually married someone. Everyone had assumed that like always Hikaru would be the last of them to grow up and settle down, after all he seemed to be enjoying his carefree life as a bachelor._

_As soon as the cab opened and the staircase moved in to place, the tall red haired man stepped out. A Devilish grin plastered on his face as he waved to her._

_“Hey Haruhi!” he called as she neared the staircase._

_Hikaru turned back facing the inside of the plane. As he turned around she noticed the disheveled girl standing next to him.  A blonde bun sat on the top of her head of dark roots, and she was dressed in lounge pants as she tightly wrapped an oversized zip up hoodie around herself. But rather than look annoyed by her appearance, Hikaru looked concerned._

_“ **This is Haruhi, she is my best friend. She is going to help you get settled in to your room. Okay?”** Hikaru spoke softly to the girl._

_She looked Haruhi over with dead eyes as they walked down the stairs. As soon as her slipper covered feet hit the pavement she turned and walked towards the waiting limo. Stepping in Haruhi watched as she saw the girl lie down on the bench seat._

_“What’s wrong with her?” Haruhi asked as the elder twin walked up beside her._

_“Haruhi can I tell you a secret?” He said, but it was easy to hear the strain laced through his normally devilish voice._

_“Hikaru your wife…” She began_

_“Haruhi, I only married her because she was pregnant,” Hikaru said interrupting her._

_“What do you mean you only…? Wait was?” She began almost screaming before the realty of his words hit her._

_Finally looking over at the former host she noticed the changes in him. His shirt and slacks were wrinkled and there were red stains on the sleeves of his white shirt, his hair was lifeless and dull and looked like a rat had chosen it as its new home, and it was easy to see the dark circles that surrounded his eyes as his skin had become even paler than it normally was._

_“She lost the baby a week ago,” The lifeless undertone in his voice finely hitting home, Hikaru was utterly lost._

_“Why?” she asked in a whisper afraid that the girl could hear her as quiet sobs coming from the open limo door filled the wing._

_“Don’t know, the doctor says sometimes this just happens,” he said cynically_

_“Hikaru I…” Haruhi tried to find the right words to comfort her friend but nothing came to mind._

_“Yeah that was my feeling,” the devil twin said bitterly._

_“What can I do?” She asked after several quiet moments._

_She had about a hundred questions but the desperate look on Hikaru’s face stopped her from asking._

_“Please, just give me some time everything happened so fast I just need time to adjust,” He pleaded his voice cracking as tears began to fall from his eyes._

Hikaru gasped as his head began to clear, blinking several times he was about to open his mouth to speak when a shout came from his left.

“What do you mean that Emma is pregnant!?”

 


	14. Kaoru's Wish

“Kaoru, please” Haruhi began as she looked, seeing tears began to roll down the elder twins face.

“No, I want to hear it from you Brother! Why would you lie to me?”  Kaoru said, as he bitterly shouted at his twin.

“I didn’t,” Hikaru said in a monotone voice.

“Yes, you did. I asked you if she was pregnant and you looked me in the eye and said no!” Kaoru shouted causing Haruhi to flinch and the normally calm one.

“That’s because she is not,” Hikaru insisted.

“Then why did you marry her, you told me that you don’t love so why would you marry her?” Kaoru’s rampage continued.

“Because she lost the baby!” Hikaru shouted finally silencing his brother.

“Hika…” Haruhi said as she looked over at the elder twin as he walked over the desk and slamming his fist down on it in rage.

“Don’t be so childish,” Kaoru muttered under his breath.

“I stopped being a child the minute the stick turned blue!” Hikaru shouted. “Damn it Kaoru,” he cursed under his breath.

“What happened?” Hanna asked quietly.

“I meet Emma at a club my first night in New York.  She was a line cook; we hit it off and hung out for almost a week straight.”

“You already told me this,” Kaoru said irritably. 

Hikaru glared at his twin, took several deep breaths and continued,

“After about a month and a half I get a phone call, it was Emma and she asked if I wanted to meet up. I hadn’t seen her since that first week and I had some free time. So I met her at this café, she told me she had missed her last two periods and had taken a home pregnancy test. It was positive, so I dragged her to a doctor who confirmed.”

“How do you know it was yours?” The younger asked quietly.

“Cause Emma isn’t a party girl, the only reason she was at that club was because she was talking to a bartender about opening up a tapas place.  After a week of fighting over it we decided to get married. The press caught on to the marriage but thankfully they missed the whole baby thing…” Hikaru said trailing off, after several tense moments he took a ragged breath and continued.

“About a month after we were married she woke up in the middle of the night with really bad stomach pains I rushed her to the hospital…. But by the time we got there it was too late.” Hikaru said as the tears fell from his eyes.

“Then why stay married?” Honey asked quietly,

Turning Haruhi saw how tightly Honey was holding onto Reiko’s hand. _They have tried so hard to be parents and now they have to listen to how their friend lost his baby,_ Haruhi thought sadly.

“I promised I would be there for her for better or for worst. Besides Emma has no family, I wasn’t just going to leave her to deal with this on her own,” Hikaru said as he wiped the tears from his eyes though the strain could still be heard in his voice.

“I never thought I would see the day that by brother turned responsible,” Kaoru joked lamely.

“Yeah well, I’ve been kicked around a lot lately.” Hikaru grumbled as he leaned against their shared desk.

“So I have one more question, why would you tell that to a complete stranger?” Kaoru asked pointing at the girl in question. 

The room was filled with an awkward silence, that after several minutes Haruhi interrupted,

“Kaoru, you wish that you weren’t a twin.”

_Haruhi and the twins stood next to the readied plane, as the last of Hikaru’s luggage was loaded._

_“Don’t do anything crazy,” Kaoru warned as a mischievous grin flashed across Hikaru’s face._

_“I’ll only be in New York for four months. What could happen?” the elder twin asked as he began to walk up the stairs._

_Haruhi and Kaoru waved goodbye one last time as Hikaru walked in to the cab. Once climbing back in to his car, Haruhi and Kaoru drove off._

_“Haruhi, can I tell you something?” Kaoru asked as the hanger disappeared over the hill._

_“Kao, since when do you have to ask me you are one of my best friends,” Haruhi said chuckling._

_“True but what I have to say is kind of horrible,” his voice trailing off as he spoke._

_“How bad could it be?”_

_A tense moment filled the car before Kaoru spoke softly,_

_“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a twin.”_

_“What?” Haruhi asked looking towards the driving twin._

_“Don’t get me wrong I love my brother but, this entire week everyone has been asking me how am I going to survive without Hikaru. I mean what am I a conjoined twin does Hikaru have half of my liver and I won’t survive without him here?” Kaoru asked sarcastically._

_“Kaoru…”_

_“I am serious why is it that you are the only one who sees that we are two separate people?!”  Kaoru shouted as he interrupted the natural type host._

_“What about Satchi and the other Host club members?”_

_“I mean yeah sure they understand, and I love Satchi with all my heart but she still sometimes sees us as a set,” the younger twin grumbled._

_“Have you talked to her about it?”_

_“No,” he mumbled._

_“Look I am not going to deny that what you’re saying isn’t true, but Kaoru I would give the rest of the world some slack. I know it can be frustrating but I think this time apart will be good for not only the both of you but also for the world to see you both the way I do.”_

_“Thanks Haruhi.”_

Kaoru’s eyes widened slightly as his mind began to clear. Looking over at his bother Kaoru saw the tears sliding down Hikaru’s face not know what caused them his own eyes started to leak.

“Hika…”

“Oh Kaoru,” Hikaru sobbed as he reached out and clung to his brother.

After several moments both boys reached out and wrapped Haruhi in their embrace. The group of three sat down on the floor and held each other as they cried. After several moments the death grips the boy held on the small girl loosened, though they still stayed close together.

“Haru, what’s going on?” Kaoru asked.

“It a long story, but to sum it up lightly. The Sohma family has been using those flowers,” she said pointing to bag in Fuyumi’s hand “to make all of you forget me, and take over the wedding,” She said as tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

“How is that possible?” Hikaru asked looking over at the Ootori.

“I can explain more later,” Fuyumi said quietly.

“What kind of range do those things have?” Kaoru asked.

“Anyone who gets with in five feet of the flower, why?” Haruhi asked as the door to the room opened with a loud bang.

“Auntie Haru!!!” the little girl cried as she ran past the rest of the group through her brothers and in to the surprised arms of the natural type host. Both boys breathing a sigh of relief.

“Ageha!” Haruhi shouted in surprise as the little girl nuzzled into her cheek.

“Auntie Haru, my mean brothers have been ignoring me,” she whined.

“Hey!” the twins shouted as they looked down at their little sister.

“Is that so?” Haruhi asked raising an eyebrow at the twins.

“Don’t listen to her,” Hikaru began.

“Yeah if anything she gets too much attention,” Kaoru continued.

“Yeah especially since the boss gave her his number,” Hikaru finished as the little girl giggled. 

“Auntie Haru, are you here to try on your dress?” She asked with wide excited eyes.

“Well actually…” she said cautiously trying to figure out what to tell the girl in her lap.

“Nope now that you’re here you might as well,” the twins said as they pulled Haruhi up by the arms and dragged her towards the dressing room.

“Hey cut it out!” she shouted as the twins closed the curtain.

Several load cruses and the sound of the something hitting the wall filled the room, soon after both of the twins stepped out, with satisfied smirks on their faces.

“Come on Haru, everyone is waiting,” Hikaru called as he saw that is sister had somehow convicted Mori to let her sit on his shoulders.

“No way!” Haruhi shouted from the room

“We will buy you all the fancy tuna you can eat,” Kaoru purred.

Reluctantly Haruhi walked out, the white bodice fit her small frame snuggly as little crystals that were sewn in to the boning glittered in the light, a shear fabric was wrapped around the back of her shoulders attaching to the dress a her strapless neckline, a long veil attached to her head that hit the floor and continued to pile at her feet. The skirt flared out slightly at her hips and flowed down elegantly in to an A-line skirt. A large flower on her hip was studded with jewels. 

“Oh you look so pretty.” Hanna spoke softly

“Like a princess Haru-Chan” Honey continued.

As equal mummers filled the room a smug smiled filled the twin’s faces.

“I think it looks all wrong,” Ageha said bluntly causing the twins to flinch

“Hey what do you mean all wrong?” the twins shouted as Mori set her down.

“Well for starts that cathedral veil has to go.” The little girl said as she went to a box in the corner, after digging through it while throwing various bags out, she opened one a pulled the object out.

“With her hair so short, her face is much more suited to a birdcage veil.” She said handing said object to Kaoru who switched out the veils.

“Furthermore this flower is way too big, if you want to put something there then a least make it proportional. Haru is tiny and this flower just looks cartoonish sitting on her hip,” she said a she grabbed the scissors off the bench and cut the offending flower off, much to the dismay of the twins.

“Hey this is our dress,” The twins scolded as their sister as she threw the cloth flower at her brothers.

“No its Auntie Haru’s, and she always looks some much better in simple designs,” The little girl said as she motioned for Haruhi to bend down.

The little girl pulled a small ornate flower clip seemingly out of nowhere and attached it to her hair around the same place as the vail was attached. Smiling proudly the little girl took a step back to admire her work, as Haruhi stood.  Turning to look at the mirror Haruhi smiled at the image of her in her dress.

“And now all she needs is a necklace and the look is complete!” Ageha cheered as the twins circled the natural type host.

“I don’t know,” the both said quietly

“Hush you two; your little sister is right,” Their mother called as she stood in the doorway. 

“Mom!?” the twins cried as their mother walked into the room. 

“What about the pendant Kyoya gave me?”  Haruhi asked looking at Yuzuha

“No that has too long of a chain plus it is too bulky, the necklace should stop right about here,” The woman said pointing at a spot just a few millimeters from the bust of the dress. “And it should be made up of three layers of crystals connected by silver chains.”

“I have just the necklace” Hikaru said as he opened the side door,

Leaning over Haruhi looked in to Hikaru’s work space various wires and beads filled the counter space that sat in the center of the room as rolls of chains all in different colors, sizes, and links hung from one wall as various sketches and several organizers filled with every kind and color of bead imaginable filled each compartment. Hikaru walked over to the back wall removing several bolts of fabrics out of the way of the safe that was built into the wall. Imputing the code he pulled out a metal box and shut the door. Turning he began walking back out of the room grabbing a set of keys on his way out.

Placing the box on the table he opened the box and Haruhi gasped. Carefully lifting the necklace out of the box he gently lay in on her neck and attached it.  The base of the necklace was a choker made up of silver mesh that had three white silver chains running through it they were braided together up until they reached the front of her throat then the chains fell loose in to three stacked loops. Every inch there was set diamonds three on top, two, then one each connected by the white silver chain laying in a pyramid pattern each sparkling brightly.

“Hika…. How much did this cost?” Haruhi asked as she gently touched the jewelry.

“You should know better than to ask that question. I originally made it to go with a couture look Kaoru made but it got scratched last minute. It has never been seen and I think this will be the perfect opportunity to show case it.”  Hikaru said as he watched his family all nod their heads in approval. 

“I didn’t know you designed jewelry.” Hanna said quietly

“Yeah it just started as a side project initially I was having trouble finding a bracelet to complete a look, so mom suggested I make one. It kind of snowballed from there, actually I design all the Hitachiin brand accessories and I personally make the ones that walk the run way.”  He said rubbing the back of his head. 

“Well, as lovely as it is to see you my darling, Ageha, my sweet, we need to go,” Mrs. Hitachiin said as she looked at the watch on her wrist. “I am due at the site in twenty minutes, and you have a play date with that little friend of yours.”

“Kagura isn’t my friend she is my toy, and last time I was at her house my toy refused to help me with my activity,” the little girl smirked choosing her word carefully.

“And what activity was that?” her mother asked placing her hand on her hips.

“I was just doing a science experiment,” she said pouting pouring on all the cute little girl charm she could muster.

“Which one?” Haruhi asked.

“I was testing the effects of gravity on a bucket of water,” the littlest Hitachiin said slyly as her brothers snickered.

“Honestly I don’t know who is worse you or your brothers,” the designer said as she picked up her daughter and stomped out of the room “I swear if you end up any more like your brothers I am sending you off to a finishing school,” She mutters as she neared the door. 

The twins and Haruhi chuckled quietly; as the door clicked you could feel the change in the room. The laughter and merriment gone and replaced with an odd feeling of seriousness that only accompanied the twins about a month before a big runway show. 

“Should we just talk about the pink elephant in the room?” Haruhi asked as she rubbed her arms.

“Haru, we aren’t going to pretend to know what is really going on here but….” Hikaru began.

“I hope you know that we are here to help you any way we can,” Kaoru finished as Haruhi took a deep breath.

“That’s good because I need you guy to do something for me,”

“Anything,” they said simultaneously.

“Call your girls, have them come here, I have a feeling they have flowers as well,” she said grimly.

 


	15. Emma's Relief

The Host club members sat in the drawing room, Fuyumi had walked out to take a phone call leaving the bag of flowers with the natural type host.  As she had changed out of her wedding dress the twins had called their girls and were having them come over urgently.

“I can’t believe you made me change again,” Haruhi grumbled as she sat in a pair of black slacks, a dark blue dress shirt that hung loose from her tiny frame, the cut out shoulders were set off with littering jewels on the shoulders. The ends of the long sheer flowing sleeves where covered by gold cuffs on each wrist. 

“Well I don’t know how many times we have to tell you that sundresses are not appropriate for late winter no matter how warm the weather is,” Hikaru said as he took a drink from his coffee cup. 

Even after all these years those two still, clamored of over the commoners coffee she introduced them to in the host club.

“You gave me that dress and several more just like it a week ago,” she said staring him down.

“Haruhi those clothes were for your honeymoon, not for you to wear around town,” Kaoru chuckled quietly.

“You know brother I feel like if she is going to dress appropriately we need to personally change out her wardrobe every month,” Hikaru said as his brother nodded in agreement.

“Honey –sempai is it too late to change my mind?” the natural type asked as the Lolita host just shook his head and chuckled as he held on to his wife who was sitting on his lap. 

“Hika!” Emma’s voice echoed in the outside hallway as a loud bang filled the silence.

“Emma,” Hikaru called as he stood and walked towards the door, as he reached it flung open as she was shoving her cell phone in her back pocket as she sighed irritably.

“ **Good God, I swear. The organizer for the Ouran banquet called and they changed their mind on what flowers they wanted for the cake and now I have to change the fondant, again! The new president of the Host club tried to argue with me about what Americans eat, hello I am one. So any way he wants a new menu drafted up and another tasting for the next party they are throwing.**

**“That Baka, that’s the right word right Baka? Any way that Baka Tamaki called and now he wants me to consult at the restaurant in the new hotel he is building, which wouldn’t be so bad if he hadn’t hired the most incompetent jackass of a chef that he did. I warned him before he interviewed with that man that he was no good, and now I have to deal with his utter refusal to cooperate. And yesterday I had two tastings no show, so I hope you’re okay with leftovers for dinner cause after the day I have I am in no mood to actually cook…** “Emma spoke so fast that it was hard to actually keep up with anything she was saying  as she finally stopped and look at the group of people in the room she turned toward her husband and spoke calmly. “ **You didn’t tell me there were other people here.** ”

“ **Well it sounds like you had a busy day**.” Kaoru said chuckling as his sister-in-law walked towards the empty chair and flopped herself down on it.

“ **You don’t know the half of it, this had been the week from hell and to make matters worse one of the tastings that didn’t show yesterday is a wedding that is happening this weekend,** ” She said as she looked over noticing Haruhi for the first time. “Oh, Hello. I am Chef Emma Michel- Hitachiin,” Emma spoke as she reached out her left hand.

As Haruhi took the hand and shook it she noticed the ring on her finger, the small glass flower attached to the band that was on her index finger. 

“ **Babe, where did you get that?”** Hikaru asked as he took his wife’s hand in his.

“ **Get what?** ” she asked as Hikaru pulled the ring off her finger and handed it to Haruhi, who let the ring fall into the bag, zapping as it joined the bunch.  “Okay? So I never got you name,” Emma said turning towards Haruhi.

“It Haruhi,”

“Okay, Haruhi sorry about this my….”

“ **Your Japanese isn’t very good I know** ,” Haruhi said with a small smile.

“ **How, I did you know that? I haven’t met you before** ,” the blonde said as she looked over at her husband in confusion.

“ **Yes you have**.”

“ **Look, I…** ”Emma began as she looked back over at the natural type host, as she as their eyes made contact Haruhi interrupted her.

“ **Emma, you are relived that you lost the baby…**.”

_Haruhi walked through the halls of the Hitachiin manor. It had been almost a week since the newlyweds had arrived in Japan. As she opened the door she saw Hikaru’s wife was pulling the sheets off the bed, her hair no longer duel colored, now was a bright blonde, which was pulled up in to a ponytail._

_“ **Hi** ,” Haruhi said cautiously as she stood in the doorway. _

_“ **Hey, your Haruhi right?** ” Emma asked as she balled up the sheets and threw them in the hamper at the end of the bed. _

_“ **Yeah, what are you doing?** ” the natural type host asked as she walked in to the room and grabbed the fresh set of sheets that Emma was trying to make the bed with._

_“ **Well, I just got back from the salon, and I decided that this room needed a deep cleaning** ,” Emma said as she grabbed her half of the fitted sheet and lifting up one corner of the mattress and securing it. _

_“ **Shouldn’t you be resting?”** Haruhi asked as she did the same and they both moved to the foot of the bed to secure the fitted sheet. _

_“ **Nope the only thing the doctor said was on the no go list was sex, but I should be back to full health in a month or so** ,” she said as the final two corners were secure. _

_“ **Are you okay**?” the brunette asked as she stood up straight, _

_“ **Yeah why wouldn’t I be?”** the blonde asked as she tossed the sheet over the bed as Haruhi catches it._

_“ **Well it’s only been two weeks since you lost the baby,** ” Haruhi spoke as she and Emma fluffed the sheet a few times before they tucked the sheet under the foot of the bed. _

_“ **Oh well, can’t change the past** ,” Emma said as she chuckled nervously, as they finished their task._

_“ **No, but that doesn’t mean you have to forget it either** ,” The natural type said as they placed the pillows back against the head board. _

**_“Look I was pregnant and now I am not, there is not much else to be said about it_ ** _,” the American said as she picked up the hamper placing it on her hip._

_“ **Okay, well what can I do to help?** ” Haruhi asked as she rolled up her sleeves. _

_“ **You can help me clean out that closet,** ” She said pointing to the door on the right wall. _

_At the pair worked they rearranged every article of clothing as Emma dragged her suit cases in to the open area after placing the hamper outside of the bedroom door for the maid to pick up and take to the laundry room._

_“ **Okay so my dear husband said that this side is mine** ,” Emma said gesturing towards the now  empty left wall.  _

_“ **Aren’t you and Hikaru going to find your own place**?” the natural type asked as she grasped the third bag from Emma as she turned to stack a plastic tote on top of another,_

_“ **Not right now, I want to get a little more familiar with the city besides Hikaru is working on selling his apartment, since apparently it is far too much of a bachelor pad, and he wants to build a house, so we will be here for at least a good year before that all done** ,” Emma said as pulled in the last tote. _

_“ **Okay so where do I start**?” Haruhi asked form her place on the floor surrounded by suitcases._

_“ **Start with the green case, hang up all the shirts and dresses, the slacks are going to need to be pressed so I’ll go get the ironing board and iron set up** ,” _

_The two girls worked in silence as Haruhi sorted the clothes, once the ironing board was set up and the iron heating up Emma got to work opening the totes and placing the shoes and on the rack in front of her._

_“ **I am surprised Hika, is letting you keep all this** ,” Haruhi said as she pulled out the fifth pair of well-worn jeans. _

_“ **Yeah well I think he is just letting me adjust to things here, I will say those two suit cases are all clothes he has given me** ,” Emma said pointing to the two large black cases that were lying next to each other._

_“ **Hey just a warning hide these** ,” Haruhi said as she tossed a pair of sweet pants at the blonde. “ **Or else they will disappear and you’ll never see them again**.”_

_The American chuckled as Haruhi pulled out a blue drawstring bag, opening it up she pulled out a pink blanket and a frilly white dress with the price tag still on it. Emma looked over and gasped as she sat down on the floor across from the natural type host._

_“ **A girl** ,” Haruhi said quietly as she ran her hand over the soft fabric of the dress._

_“ **Yeah I had just found out, I was planning on tell Hika** **when….** ” She said as she took the blanket from Haruhi and clutched it to her heart. _

_“ **So he doesn’t know**?”_

_“ **No, he didn’t want to know at the hospital, so why break his heart more that I already have** ,” The blonde said robotically as she shoved the items back in the bag they were in._

**_“Emma,_ ** _”_

_“ **You know when they told me I lost the baby, do you know what I felt**?” she asked as Haruhi shook her head “ **Relived…. Does that make me a horrible person**?”_

_“ **No** ,”_

_“ **Even if I will never tell my husband?** ” Emma said standing up the bag in hand. _

_“ **Why wouldn’t you tell your husband**?”_

_“ **Because I can’t lose him** ,” Emma said as she shoved the bag on the top shelf above the shoes. _

_“ **Emma…** ”_

_“ **I** **am hungry are you, you know I am going to go whip up something for lunch,** ” the blonde said as she stood and walked out of the closet. _

Emma gasped as a tear began to trail down her face; looking up in to the eyes of her husband she chocked a little as she abruptly stood up.

“ **I am hungry is anyone else hungry I am going to go make us something to eat,** ” she said in a panic as she stood up and tried to run towards the door.

“ **Emma!** ” Hikaru said as he grabbed her arm keeping her from running off “ **Is what Haru said true?** ”

“ **Yes** ,” she sobbed after several tense minutes.

“ **Why didn’t you say anything?** ” Hikaru asked his voice shaking.

“ **Because it sounded so horrible, and I couldn’t risk losing you** ,” Emma said as tears began to fall down her face.

“ **What if I told you I felt the same**?” He said so quietly she almost missed it.

“ **You wouldn’t say that if you knew the whole truth** ,” she said quietly her breath labored from trying to stop her tears.

“ **What is that**?”

“ **That the baby I lost was a girl,** ” she said as her tears hit the floor, the elder twin tensed for several moments.

“ **A girl? Are you sure**?” All she could do is nod her head as she heard him cough and could feel him trembling from the grip he still had on his arm.

Once the shock had worn off and everything settled down, for a small moment Hikaru had been so excited and praying for a little girl he could dote on.

“ **So we lost a daughter, what make you think that I would leave you**?” Hikaru asked as he cleared his throat though you could still hear the sorrow behind his words.

“ **What makes me think that you would stay?** ” she hissed finally pulling her arm from his grip, though she refused to turn around.

“ **Emma, I have done everything right by you why do you constantly think I am walking out the door?**!” the elder twin exclaimed.

“ **Because that is all people have ever done to me!** ”

“ **What?** ” Hikaru asked his voice softening,

“ **God! I know I have been really closed off about my past but it doesn’t change the fact that it happened,** ” Emma shouted as she began to pace, the only thing she had ever told him was that she had no family.

“ **Who left you?** ” the elder twin asked watching his wife pace back and forth.

“ **Everyone,** ” Emma said as she continued pacing

“ **What do you mean everyone?** ” Kaoru asked from his spot on the coach, looking over the elder twin remembered that there were others in the room, _at least they are family,_ he thought.

“ **I was left at a church!** ” the blonde yelled as she finally stopped her constant movements.

“ **Hugh?** ” Hikaru sighed as he looked over at his wife in confusion as he watched her trembling in both fear and anger.

“ **My parents left me at a church they didn’t want me; it was the social works who named me. I spent my entire childhood bouncing between state run homes and foster families until I aged out of the system. The longest I was at any placed was six months! And here you are with this perfect life and I come through at destroy it, first I get pregnant and then I lose the baby,** ” She finally said as she looked around seeing the sorrow on everyone faces. **“I am sorry,”** Emma cried as she finally ran out of the room.

“Hika,” Kaoru called after seeing his brother standing in one place staring at the door his wife had left through.

“I had no idea,” the elder twin said softly.

“Hika-chan, what are you going to do?” Honey asked quietly.

Looking over at his friends, Hikaru took several deep breaths. Soon he began walking towards the door.

“I am going to go talk with my wife,” he said firmly. 

 


	16. Satchi's Hate

“Haru-Chan are you okay?” Honey asked as he watched as a silent tear fall down the natural types’ face.

“This is all my fault,” Haruhi said hoarsely.

“What how can you think that?” Kaoru asked shocked as he watched Haruhi cry in to her hands.

“All this pain, it wouldn’t be happening if someone wasn’t trying to come between Kyoya and me. And in order to fix it all I am doing is breaking the confidence everyone has with me,” Haruhi cried as she felt the younger twin sit down next to her and gently begin rubbing circles in to her back.

“Haruhi, I really don’t see how that is true,” Hanna said speaking up. She had moved away from her husband and placed her hands on to the natural type’s wrists, pulling them down so that she could look in to her face.

“Hanna, how can you say that? I threw a live bomb in to your marriage; I know you and Takashi had it out. How are you not blaming me? I betrayed you just like I did Rieko,” the natural type said as she was shaking, tears still streaking down her face.

“Because they were secrets that never should have been kept,” Rieko said from her spot next to her husband.

“Haruhi, if it was not now then it would be at some point. All of these issues that have been placed on you would have come to light eventually. All that has happened is we must deal with it sooner. None of us blame you for this,” Takashi spoke firmly, as he moved to stand next to his wife gently placing him hand on top of her head patting her several times.

“But…” Haruhi began as she looked up at the wild type.

“If anyone is to blame it would be the ones who handed out the flowers in the first place,” Fuyumi’s voice filled the room. “Mr. Hitachiin, I believe I just saw your girlfriend pull up.” The Ootori said as she turned and left the room again.

Nodding his head Kaoru turned back to Haruhi, her crying had stopped and she was looking for something to wipe her face with, chuckling the younger twin hand her his pocket square. She gently took it wiping her eyes and cheeks.  Kaoru taking Hanna’s place kneeling before the natural type host as he pulled her into his arms.

“Kao, darling, where are you?” Satchi’s cheerful voice filled the room and an ominous dread filled Haruhi’s heart, as the younger twin moved to sit next to her on the coach.

“Kao?” the voice grew louder as the door swung open, surveying the room the smile on Sachi’s face fell as she found her boyfriend comforting a perceived  stranger.

 “What is this?” she asked malice filled her voice.

“Can you please sit down?” Kaoru asked as he gestured to the empty chair sitting next to the couch that he and Haruhi were sitting on.

The rest of the group got up and left saying that they would meet Haruhi back at her apartment; a strained silence filled the room. Looking up Haruhi saw the flower dangling from her old roommate’s favorite charm bracelet. Quietly the twin devil type took his girlfriend’s hand taking the charm off of the bracelet and dropping it in to the bag along with the rest, as Satchi glared at the natural type host.

“What’s going on?” Satchi she demanded rudely as she eyed the bag of artifacts in Haruhi’s hand.

“Satchi…” Kaoru began trying to find a way to explain what was going on.

“No Kaoru, you call me here out of the blue and I find you comforting this stranger, and then you take the charm you made for me and gave it to her! What am I supposed to think?” Satchi spoke venomously interrupting her boyfriend.

“Satchi please this isn’t like you,” the devil twin pleaded.

“Yes it is,” Haruhi said quietly, the other woman’s head snapped over in her direction before speaking.

“And how would you know that?” Satchi growled.

Tears, filled Haruhi’s eye as she sobbed out,

“Because Satchi, you hate me….”

_Haruhi sat on her bed in her dorm room a large text book in her lap a second on the bed in front of her and a filled note pad sitting in front of her; she was waiting for a call from Kyoya about a party she was supposed to be attending and began to study in the down time. As the door opened in walked her roommate who seemed to be floating on cloud nine._

_“I take it the date went well?” the natural type asked as she looked up seeing the glee on the girls face upon heard the click of the door closing._

_“I was perfect, he bought out this little café I had the most delicious meal I have ever had,” Satchi said as she flopped on to her bed._

_“I told you, that you should have accepted his offer to date you last year,” Haruhi pointed out as her phone beeped with another message from Tamaki, ignoring it she went back to studying._

_“Well I wanted to see how determined he was,” Satchi said with a giggle as she flopped on to her bed._

_After another seven texts in a row Haruhi picked up her phone and started texting the Host Club king as Satchi talked about her date. Soon a knock on the door interrupted their light conversation, as the natural type was trying to talk Tamaki out of the deep end. Satchi opened the door revealing Kaoru._

_“Oh Kaoru, what are you doing back here?” she asked hopefully._

_“Hey Satchi, I am here for Haruhi,” the younger twin said quietly, as he smiled down at the girl._

_Turning around Satchi walked in to their shared bedroom, as the smile she once had fell to a frown._

_“The door is for you,” Satchi said bitterly as she sat back on her bed as the natural type crawled over her books to get out of hers._

_As Haruhi neared the door, she heard a small whisper that wasn’t meant for her to hear._

_“I hate you.”_   

The briefest flicker of recognition played in Satchi’s eyes as she looked down in shame.

“What?” Kaoru asked looking between his girlfriend and his best friend. 

“Kao, I think it is best if you leave, Satchi and I have somethings to discuss,” Haruhi said quietly as she looked down to her lap.

“I’ll go check on Hika,” the younger twin said as he walked out of the room the click of the closing door rang in the otherwise silent room. 

Both women sat in the uncomfortable silence for several moments neither looking at the other before one of them chose to speak.

 “I just have one question, Why?” Haruhi asked as Satchi refused to look at her still.

“Do I really need a reason?” Satchi asked quietly.

“We have been friends for almost five years, what did I do to make you hate me?” the natural type pleaded.

“It’s nothing you did per say…” the other said carefully still avoiding eye contact as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Then what?” Haruhi asked exasperatedly.

“It’s because of Kaoru,” Satchi whispered.

“What?”

“Look I know it doesn’t make any sense, but Kaoru and Hikaru have their own little world and the only other person in that world is you,” She said finally glaring at Haruhi.

“Satchi,” Haruhi began trying to find something to say.

“It doesn’t matter how close to him I get, that little bubble that he has you and his brother in is untouchable. At first I just thought he would let me in after a while, but I learned that no matter what I do you will always more important to him than me,” the other woman ranted as she interrupted the natural type.

“Look I am not going to deny that the guys and I are close,” Haruhi began.

“Close!? Close doesn’t begin to cut it. No matter what we are doing he will drop me and go running after you,” Satchi shouted as she cut off Haruhi again.

“That’s not true,” Haruhi spoke as she shook her head,

“It was our anniversary dinner and he had to leave because you needed someone to pick you up from the library. I had just gotten in to a fight with my mother again and he was comforting me until you need help finding an outfit to wear to court the next day. I had just gotten back from a month long trip and Kaoru wouldn’t see me because you had gotten in to a fight with Kyoya and he had to make sure you were okay!” Satchi shouted.

“I never once called Kaoru,” Haruhi said defending herself, but the hateful look in her former roommate’s eye remained.

Haruhi knew that this was a losing battle, no matter what she said or did Satchi would never come to terms with the relationship the Host Club had formed. _I just hope she doesn’t hurt Kaoru in the process,_ the natural type thought as Satchi wound up again.

“No I will give you that you didn’t, and I get that your group is really close but that doesn’t change the fact that no matter what Kaoru will always come running to you,” Satchi accused.

“What do you want me to do? Tell him to leave me alone because that will crush him,” the natural type said anger finally finding its way in to her voice.

“I don’t want you to do anything! Look Kaoru and mine’s relationship is at a crossroad. Either we move forward or move on but every time I think we are moving forwards something happens in your life and all of a sudden I am in third place!” Satchi shouted again.

“Satchi, Kaoru loves you,” Haruhi pleaded.

“But he loves you more,” Satchi said bitterly.

“Satchi,” Kaoru’s voice filled the room as both girl turned to look at him.

Neither had seen him come in but the look on his face told them that he had heard almost the whole argument.

“I love you, Kaoru I do but I can’t accept being in third place for the rest of my life,” Satchi stated firmly.

“You’re not,” the younger twin said quietly.

“Yes I am, I don’t doubt that you love me, but I know that no matter what Haruhi and Hikaru, hell even the whole damn club will come before me,“  Satchi spoke as bitterness founds its way back in to her voice.

“If that is how you really see things, then maybe it time we take a break,” He said his voice horse.

“Yeah maybe we should,” Satchi said as she walked out of the room.  “I’ll see you at the wedding,” she called as the door closed with a loud thud.

Kaoru glared at the door, for several moments neither said anything.

“Kao,” Haruhi said a she reached for his arm,

“You know maybe this is a good thing,” He said after a moment.

“How is that? You were going to propose,” the natural type said as she rubbed his back as silent tears fell down his cheeks.

“Yes, but if that is how she really feels then the marriage wouldn’t have lasted,” Kaoru said his voice breaking.

They both stood there in silence for a while, Haruhi remembering what Renge had once said about breaks, _“Look Haruhi a break is just a hop, skip, and a week away from a break up,”_ the otaku’s voice filled her head as she looked over at the younger twin.

“I am sorry,” Haruhi spoke ending the deafening silence.

“Don’t be. It’s like Mori-Sempai said all of these issues would have come to the light anyway. I am just glad it did not before I got in deeper than I already am,” The younger twin spoke as the tears continued to fall down his face.

Both stood still for several minutes letting the reality of the situation finally take root.

“Hey I know my place is kind of crowded right now but you welcome to come over any time,” Haruhi offered finally ending the silence.

“Thanks, you know I think I am going to take a walk and them maybe head over but I need to clear my head first,” the younger twin said as he walked out of the room and ran up the stairs towards the twin’s private wing.

Haruhi exited the room on Kaoru’s heels, as Emma and Hikaru began making their way down the stairs. Hikaru went to follow his brother but his wife clutched his arm keeping him next to her.

“Haru, what happened?” He asked desperately, after seeing the heartbreak in his brother’s eyes.

“I think Kaoru and Satchi are over,” Haruhi said quietly,

 


	17. A Friendly Warning

No one spoke on the ride to the park, Hikaru had gone up to check on his brother but after finding the door to his twin’s room locked for the first time, the girls had to drag him out of the house in order to give Kaoru some much needed space. Haruhi was bringing the couple to her apartment to meet up with the others to catch them up and discuss the next steps that needed to be taken.

“Turn right here,” the natural type said softly to the driver as they pulled in to the nearly full lot.

“Why are we here?” Hikaru asked as he held on to his wife’s hand.

“I am hoping to meet someone,” she said as she got out of the car. “Wait here I shouldn’t be too long,” Haruhi said as she closed the door.

The park was slightly over crowded as various families were there enjoying the first warm weather of the year. The loud shrieks of laughter filled the air as Haruhi began making her way towards the center. A large jungle gym filled with many children playing on it was surrounded by their mildly concerned parents huddled together in groups as they watched their children exhaust themselves came in to view as she walked around some well-tended foliage.  Off to the side was a bench that was occupied by one individual, while most would avoid the man based on sight alone, Haruhi greeted him with a happy smile.  

“Ritsu,” she greeted him with a nod as she sat down the man next to her smiled as he watched over a little girl who was playing in the mulch.

“Ayame, what have I told you about throwing mulch!” he yelled at the little red head girl standing several feet in front of him, she soon dropped the hand full she had and ran off after a random boy.

“I see she is as much trouble as ever,” Haruhi said as she laughed at the little girl as she tackled the boy she was chasing.

“Well, according to her mother, I am not spending enough time with her,” Ritsu grumbled in frustration.

“How is Mei, when I talked to her the other day she sounded overwhelmed,” the natural type asked as she sat back against the bench still watching the little girl play.

“Yeah, she has her first show coming up in a month. So she has a lot on her plate,” he grumbled.

After having finally reconnecting with her father, Misuzu, Mei and he had begun their own design company. That catered to both women and transvestites, they were doing well enough that Mrs. Hitachiin offered to buy out their company and have them work under her label with their own division.

“Sounds like it, , from what the twins have told me she is doing well in the markets they have her in and there is talk of expanding outside the country,” Haruhi said quietly as a small awaked silence sat between them.

“What about you? I know the wedding is coming up soon I am surprised you wanted to talk,” Ritsu said calmly a bit of the tension both easing and rising at the same time.  

“Well I actually have some questions I need to ask you,” she said nervously.

“If they are about those weird flowers I don’t know much,” Ritsu said pulling a cigarette out of his inside jacket pocket and lighting it.

“What?” the natural type gasped as she looked over at her friend.

“Look, I was at that club that night but I was only there chasing a lead. Once I realized what was going on I tried to stop it but I was too late,” he said making sure to exhale away from Haruhi’s face.

“About what?” the natural type asked her curiosity peaked.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, but what I do know is that if I had gotten my hands on them I would have sent those flowers away,” Ritsu spoke his body tensing slightly. 

“To where?” Haruhi questioned, Fuyumi had told her a lot about what she did with the Warehouse but she never once said where she kept the artifacts before she shipped them out.

“There is this old house in Adachi, if any kind of strange object falls in to my possession, I send it there. I don’t know what happens to them once they get there, don’t particularly care cause I never see them again,” he grunted as there were a group of women with strollers walking passed them.

“How do you know about artifacts?” she asked quietly hoping not to be overheard by anyone.

“Oh is that what they are called?” he said taking a puff of his cigarette and exhaling as he continued speaking.  “A few years ago I ran in to one on a job, it was a weird looking wooden plank. That dammed thing killed three of my men,” Ritsu spat angrily.

“How?”

“I don’t know all the men did was touch it and three days later they were gone, the official cause of death was hypothermia… it was July,” he said ominously.

“How did you know what to do with it?” Haruhi asked breaking the slight silence that had fallen between them as another group of women with strollers passed by again.

“About two days after the coroner’s report came back I got this email. It said that, they knew I had a strange object in my possession, and they would gladly relive me of it. All I had to do was drop the plank, off at a house and tell no one, and if I ever found any other strange objects to do the same. I tried tracing the email but I got nothing,” the red head said taking a long drag out of his cigarette.

“So, the flowers?” she asked hoping for some new information.

“A few weeks ago this crate came in at the docks, my men picked it up thinking it was ours, and the only things in the crate were those flowers. I knew something was off but before I could stop them the men took it back, I have been looking for them ever since.”

“Well I found them,” Haruhi informed him annoyed.

“Mind telling me what they do?” Ritsu asked raising an eyebrow as he saw his daughter standing still staring upwards.

“They make you forget someone,” she said bitterly.

“Who?” He asked as he watched Ayame begin to climb all the way to the top of the jungle gym.

“Me, those flowers were given to all the hosts and their wives or girlfriends,” Haruhi said looking down at her shoes.

“Why would someone do that?” Ritsu asked as he put out the cigarette grinding it in to the gravel as he watched his child begin her descent.

“Because they want to have someone else marry Kyoya,” she said quietly still looking at her shoes.

“Any idea who is behind this?” he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“A man by the name of Sohma,” the natural type said as she looked at her friend.

“Shit,” Ritsu cursed as he removed his hand from Haruhi’s shoulder.

“What?”

“Look I am not sugar coating this that is one twisted bastard. He is not afraid to kill to get what he wants,” He said leaning forward on his knees.

“You know him?”

“He is the nephew of one of my advisors, all I can promise you is that I’ll do what I can to stop him but with the money he has made he is nearly untouchable,” He warned as he saw a flash of familiar red begun barreling towards the two.

“Aunty Haru!” the little girl called as she ran towards the natural type host.

“My Ayame, you’re getting so big,” Haruhi said as she stood and picked the little girl up and spun around with her in her arms.

“Yep I am this many,” she said proudly holding up four fingers.

“Wow!” Haruhi exclaimed in forced excitement as Ayame giggled.

“Are you here to play with me?” the little red head asked excitedly, squirming in the host’s arms.

“I am sorry I was just here to talk to your daddy and now I have to run,” the natural type said as she placed the little girl back down on the ground.

The girl in question pouted as she walked over to her father and laying her forehead on to his chest disappointed.

“Haruhi, be careful,” Ritsu said as he rubbed circles into his daughter’s back as she continued to pout.

     “I will,” she said as she walked back out of the park.


	18. Curioser and Curioser

_I think Kyoya sempai is amazing,” the strange girl said dressed in slacks and a vest with a button up shirt underneath as she stood behind Yoshiro as he walked away from her and himself._

_The court yard of Ouran was lit with a multitude of candles as the sight of the small girl dressed in a modest white under dress, being swung around by Tamaki left an unsavory taste in his mouth. As he bite back the urge to pull her from the King’s grasp._

_“Why should I care about the outside, it’s what on the inside that counts right?” she asked looking  up at him, the oversized sweater she was wearing was falling off on of her shoulders as her large glasses fell to the end of her nose revealing  large chocolate pools that he instantly lost himself in._

_He clutched the shivering girl as she sank her nails into his back as a loud crash of thunder and lightning lit up the night sky, revealing a picnic that had since been drenched and forgotten because of the surprise storm._

_Taking her face in his hands he pulled her in for a kiss and greedily consumed her lips as she clutched the lapels of his jacket, moving one hand to her petite waist as he crushed her soft body against his._

_“I never expected you to go for someone so plain brother, do tell me how is the little tart in bed?” Akito asked slyly a troublesome smirk on his face, which was soon gone as Kyoya felt his fist connect with his brother’s face._

_“Kyoya, not everyone is going to try a screw you over!” the girl shouted at him as she stood in the doorway of his bedroom._

_He could feel every soft plain of her body against his, and it drove him to the edge of madness. The soft moans that escaped her mouth tipped him over the edge as he continued to feel her tighten around him; soon her breathy cries filled the room as he bit in to her neck._

_“Kyoya!”_

Kyoya bolted up in bed, beads of sweat trickled down his body as he could still feel her body pressed dangerously close against his.  His body felt like it was on fire, _and she is the only one that can put it out._ All day he had been distracted, the work he had been sent here to do was nothing. _It’s almost as if they are just making shit up for me to take care of,_ he thought again. Never the less he tried everything he could to keep his mind from wondering to the girl.

Kyoya stood and noticed the state of his pants, his body longed for her even if his mind was jumbled. Walking to the bathroom he turned on the shower to its coldest setting a stepped in. As the cold water hit his heated skin Kyoya hissed in appreciation.  Standing under the shower head he lifted his face up so that the cool water would run down his face. 

After a good while he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. Walking to the desk where is laptop set charging, he sat down in the chair. Pulling up his email Kyoya sent one to the director of the building he was supposed to visit today, telling him that due to a sudden illness he would have to push back his visit until the next day.

After completing his task, Kyoya opened the file tab and in to the search engine typed one word.

Haruhi.

Soon several files and documents pooped up, clicking on the pictures he opened them up and found one that was labeled proposal. The picture was from an article from the society pages at the charity ball his father threw annually. He held the girl in his arms as she clutched his forearms with her hands. His mother’s ring glittering on her finger, as she smiled up at him his forehead resting against hers as the strange sight of a genuine smile graced his own face.

Soon a sharp pain filled his head as a little more fog cleared.

_Kyoya fidgeted nervously, a heavy box in his left pocket causing him a great deal of stress. As one of the waiters walked by with a tray of filled champagne glasses he grabbed two, quickly downing one of them._

_“If I didn’t know any better I would say something is bothering you brother,” Akito spoke softly as he placed a hand on to the Shadow King’s shoulder._

_“Really, Akito don’t you have some rich heiress to taunt?” the youngest asked as he downed the second glass, setting them both down on an empty table._

_“Kyoya, father has been looking everywhere for you,” the eldest Ootori spoke._

_“I am coming Yuuichi,” Kyoya grumbled as he reached in to his pocket and held the case protectively._

_The sound of someone clearing their throat filled the air as Kyoya took a nervous breath in, ‘everything will be fine your just going to propose to the girl you have been dating for the five years.’ Kyoya chanted in his mind as he looked up to his father who stood up on the stage._

_“I want to thank you all for being here, this year we have been able to raise twice what we have in our previous years thanks to all of your generous donations.” The crowd erupted in applause as the Ootori patriarch waited for the noise to quiet down before continuing. “Now I know you all are wondering where the money is going this year but I have decided that the decision should be left up to the heir of the Ootori Group,” Yoshiro spoke firmly as the crowd began to whisper amongst themselves._

_“I have three fine sons all of whom are more than capable to take this company into the future. So for their final test I had each submit a plan for the money that we would be raising here tonight. Each plan allowed the money to be used wisely but there was one that not only benefited those in need, but also helped begin to cater to a demographic that is usually forgotten about. Without further ado I name my youngest son, Kyoya as the next head of the Ootori group,” a collective gasp filled the room at the unexpected news. The Shadow King stared up at his father in surprise._

_“Kyoya, my boy, please come up here,” Kyoya silently made his way on to the stage as he hid the shock._

_‘I did it I am the heir’ the Shadow King thought as the room filled with applause, once he had reached the stage he scoured the crowd looking for one face in particular. Landing on his longtime girlfriend who proudly beamed up at him, a soft smile found its way on to his face as he looked at her._

_“Thankyou father,  this year’s donations will go towards the free clinics in the poor districts of the city, hopefully this money will help provide lifesaving care for those who couldn’t normally afford it,” applause filled the room, looking over at his brothers he saw the well-hidden contempt in their eyes as they looked up at their youngest sibling._

_Looking back over at the small girl, a sudden jolt of nerves coursed through him. ‘It’s now or never’ he thought as he cleared his throat._

_“Haruhi could you join me up here?” He asked as the small girl nodded her head as a load murmur began coming from the crowd._

_Silently she made her way up on to the stage, looking over at her boyfriend as he began to speak._

_“I know you do not usually care to be in the spot light but I have something I need to ask you. For those of you that don’t know I met this marvelous woman while in High School, and from the moment I met her she has turned my world upside down.”  The crowd chuckled as he continued to look down at the girl taking her hand s in to his hands._

_“Before I met you I doubt that anyone could convince me that those in the middle and lower class could become anything more than what they were born to be. But I soon learned that one’s birth does not determine how their lives will play out, your fierce stubbornness and will to fight for what is right no matter what the cost have proven to me just how wrong I was,” the Shadow King said as he released both of his hands, placing them in his pocket and gripping the box._

_“I never thought I would see the day that Kyoya Ootori would admit he was wrong about something,” Haruhi spoke softly but the audience laughed at her remark._

_“Haruhi before I accept the position as heir to the Ootori group there is one question I must ask you,” he said as he pulled out the ring box knelling down on to one knee and opening the box._

_A collective gasped filled the room, but all Kyoya could see was the studded look on Haruhi as she covered her mouth with both of her hands. The shock filled her large brown eyes._

_“Haruhi Fujioka, you have become so ingrained in to my very being that I could never imagine my life without you for a single moment, will you do me the immense honor of becoming my wife?”_

_A shaky breath filled the silence as his heart soared at her single word answer._

_“Yes,”_

Kyoya gripped his head as the memory returned, blinking several times, he looked at the picture and read the article that was attached to it.

_Bad news ladies, the new heir to the Ootori group has just been removed from the market. It was quite a shock to see such a public proposal especially from a couple that dose everything they can to stay out of the lime light.  These high school sweethearts have been together for at least five years now so while the engagement wasn’t a shock, the shock came that during the acceptance speech as the new heir the youngest Ootori turned it in to a proposal. This Cinderella story (as most of you already know she is of common birth), is competed by Yoshiro’s own repose to the proposal “When I gave him, my wife’s ring I never thought my boy would do something like this. His mother would be proud and I can’t wait for Haruhi to finally be and Ootori.”_

“Not only, did I really give her that ring but my father even approved of her,” the Shadow King spoke to himself as stared at the image for a while longer.

“So the question remains my dear, how and why did I forget you?”

 


	19. I Know the Truth and It Haunts me

Haruhi, Hikaru, and Emma walked in to the apartment. Kaoru was sitting in between Reiko and Takashi, as the rest of the group was filling him in. As the Americans were sitting opposite, filling in any questions the younger twin had about the warehouse.

“Kaoru!” Hikaru shouted as he flung himself at his brother,

“ **Oh, Kaoru, I don’t know what I would have done if you kept yourself lock up in your room,** ” the elder twin spoke as he ran his right hand in to his twins hair.

“ **Hikaru, I am sorry. In an effort to be strong I pushed you away, I am a horrible brother** ,” the younger spoke as he turned his head away his eyes tightly closed, as tears streamed down his face.

“ **No, Kaoru don’t say that. I will always be there for you my dear brother no matter what,** ” Hikaru spoke firmly as he pulled Kaoru’s face close to his.

“Hikaru,” Kaoru sighed as they both stared in to each other’s eyes longingly.

“ **Cut it out!** ” Haruhi and Emma shouted at the twins as the Americans looked a little stunned.

The twins turned towards the Haruhi and Emma smirking mischievously, the natural type catching the hurt that Kaoru tried to hide.

“So what did Ritsu say?” Honey asked as Haruhi stepped away from the door and Emma slapped her husband on the back of his head.

“You were meeting Bossinova?” Hikaru asked rubbing the sore spot on his head as Haruhi nodded her head.

“Yeah but he had a lot of strange information,” the natural type said shaking her head, unsure how to process what she had just been told.

“Like what?”  Hanna asked.

“Well…” Haruhi began the sound of the apartment’s door closing drew her attention away from the group. “Dad?”

Ranka stood in the doorway; he clutched several note books and files to his chest. Both Pete and Myka exchanged a knowing look as they recognized the crossdresser walking towards his daughter.

“Baby girl there is something I need to tell you,” he spoke quietly.

“Dad, I am sorry can this wait I am kind of in the middle of something,” the natural type spoke as she stood to talk to her father.

“No Haruhi, this can’t wait it’s about your mother,” Ranka insisted.

“Dad, I know that with the wedding coming it’s been hard for you but, this is really important,” Haruhi spoke softly as she looked over at her father who was fighting back the tears.

“Haruhi I need you to stop and listen it is important you hear this,” the red head spoke his voice wavering as he did so.

“Dad I am sorry but you need to go,” Haruhi said harshly as she pointed at the door.

_The spitting image of her mother, Ranka_ thought as he looked over his daughter who had turned back towards the group.

“I guess hunting down artifacts is more important than family. You’re just like your mother sometimes,” Ranka spoke sharply, with disappointment ringing behind his words. 

Haruhi gasped, as she turned to look over at her father, as several other pairs of eyes turned towards the crossdresser.

“Dad?” the word barely came out of Haruhi’s mouth as she looked at her father confusion in her eyes.

“Now will you listen to me?” Ranka asked frustrated.

“How do you know about artifacts?” Fuyumi asked as Ranka took a seat next to Haruhi on the coach.

“I know about them because of your mother,” Ranka said speaking to Haruhi, as the twins moved to sit on the coach near the natural type host, one on the arm the other on the back.

“Was she a warehouse agent?” Haruhi asked.

“No, she was a regent,” Ranka spoke as he took a deep breath.

“ **Regent?** ” Haruhi asked looking towards the Americans

“ **Regents, help manage the warehouse. They make sure the current agents, and custodians are doing their job. And sometimes they also determine if an artifact needs to be collected or not,** ” Myka said calmly as Ranka looked over at her.

“ **I thought all artifacts needed collecting,** ” Haruhi said quietly.

“ **Sometimes it is best if they stay put, not all artifacts can be collected sometimes they do more good if they are left where they are. Regents make those kinds of calls** ,” Claudia said as she eyed the files in Ranka’s hand.

She had recognized some hand writing from some restricted files she had found one day as she was trying to digitize some of the warehouse’s deep storage files.

“So mom was a regent, what does that have to do with me?” Haruhi said looking back over at her father.

“It’s more of what you are going after,” Ranks said bitterly.

“What do you know about the flowers?” Reiko asked.

“Not much this is all the research my Kotoko had on those cursed things she died before she could bring them in,” Ranka spoke as he placed the files and books on the table.

Haruhi grabbed one; opening the front cover she found her mother’s hand writing.

“So mom was looking for them before she got sick?” the natural type asked as she gently placed the book down on the table.

“No baby, those flowers are the reason your mother is gone,” Ranka said again.

“Dad they aren’t deadly why would mom be dead because of them,” Haruhi replied as she looked up at her father.

“Haruhi your mother, she didn’t die because she was sick…” tears began to stream down his face. “Haruhi your mother was murdered,” Ranka said as tears began to wrack his body.

Haruhi felt two hands clamp down on to her shoulders, and noticing that she was shacking as several sharp intakes of breath filled the room. She watched the familiar sight of her father breaking down over her mother’s death and it was all she could do to not join him.

“You’re lying!” Haruhi finally shouted as she watched her father begin to calm himself down.

“No Haruhi you mother was murdered,” the red head stated again.

“Then why isn’t there a police report? Where is the evidence?” Haruhi berated as she fought back tears.

“There isn’t any, at least none that can be proven in a court,” Ranka insisted as he wiped away the last tears.

“Then how do you know she was murdered?” Haruhi asked harshly.

“Because she was killed by an artifact!” Ranka shouted. 

Haruhi’s mind went blank as she stared to her father, trying desperately to come up with any kind of response. _I need Kyoya; I need him why can’t he be here? None of this would be happening if he was here._ She screamed internally, the twins sensing her rising panic pulled her closer towards them. The small comfort they brought remained Haruhi that she still had questions. 

“Dad?” was all the natural type could manage, but that seemed to be enough for her father.

“Haruhi, your mother she was an amazing woman. Yes she was a lawyer but she was so much more than that. The first time she told me about artifacts I was terrified the thought of these strange devices; I didn’t want her anywhere near them. But at least she was trying to keep them out of the public’s eye.  But then you were born and I was nervous again I was afraid that you would be pulled in to the dangerous world as well. Everything was great until you were five,”

_Ranka walked up the stairs to their small apartment, grocery bags in hand. As he walked in he noticed that it was oddly quiet. Looking in to his and Kotoko’s room he saw no one. As he made his way towards his daughter’s room he heard laughter from his little girl._

_“I am going to catch you!” the young Haruhi called._

_As Ranka opened the door he found his daughter chasing what appeared to be a shadow. The shadow moved on its own jumping just out of the reach of the little girl._

_“Daddy quick shut the door or else my friend will get out!” Haruhi shouted._

_Looking down at his daughter he noticed that she wore a long pendant that he had never seen before. It was a simple silver chain that was attached to a pan flute.  And eerie light reflected off of it sending Ranka in to a panic, and quickly as possible he pulled his daughter towards him and ran for the living room. But as he did he noticed that the odd shadow followed her reaching out to grab on to her ankle. Pulling out the phone he dialed his wife’s number as Ranka ran around the room clutching Haruhi to his chest._

_“Kotoko, I need you home now!” Ranks spoke out of breath as he continued to run around the small apartment trying to avoid the shadow._

_“What’s wrong? Did Haruhi refuse to wear the dress you bought for her?” Kotoko laughed._

_“No Kotoko,” Ranka said as he jumped out of the reach of the shadow as it tried to reach for his daughter._

_“Good because you know she can decide what she wants to wear you shouldn’t…” Kotoko said light heartedly._

_“She is wearing an artifact!” Ranka shouted as he interrupted his wife._

_“No!” Kotoko shouted as the call disconnected._

_Ranka continued to run in circles trying to avoid the shadow that was reaching out towards his daughter. But soon he tripped and the shadow caught ahold of Haruhi’s leg and began pulling her into itself. Ranka pulled with all his might._

_“Daddy!” Haruhi shouted as the shadow tugged harder and harder on her leg._

_“Haruhi!” Kotoko shouted as she ran in to the apartment, Purple gloved and silver bag ready._

_Seeing the necklace she yanked on the chain breaking it and throwing it in to the bag, the artifact zapping as it landed in the bag. The odd shadow imploded into itself as it quickly disappeared, sending a gust of wind around the room. The family falling on the floor clutching each other, the little girl fast asleep.  After tucking the little girl in to bed her parents sat in the living room facing each other the bagged artifact sitting between them._

_“What is it?” Ranka asked hollowly._

_“It belonged to J.M. Berrie, he wrote peter pan,” Kotoko said quietly as she stared at the bagged artifact. “The artifact is attracted to innocence; it collects it and lets an adult remain young,”_

_“How did she get it?” Ranka asked as he refused to even look at the object._

_“I found this in her room,” Kotoko said quietly as she placed a note on the table._

_The note read ‘leave me alone or I will give her something worse than pan’s necklace.’_

_“So this has to do with you being a regent,” the cross dresser spoke bitterly._

_“I am on the trail of a propionate business man that is using artifacts to get ahead; it is my duty to stop him,” Kotoko said as she stood and began to get her coat on._

_“No it’s your duty to take care of our daughter, these artifacts have put her in danger, not to mention you just got out of the hospital with pneumonia. You should be resting not chasing after artifacts!” Ranka shouted as he watched his wife put the bagged necklace in her coat pocket, and wrap a scarf around her neck._

_“Ryoji, I have to do this, pan’s necklace is just the tip of the iceberg of what he has and he is after something much worse,” Kotoko said as she grabbed her purse off of the counter._

_“Kotoko, if you walk out that door, I am going to take my daughter and leave! Do you hear me?” Ranka shouted as he slammed his hand down on the table._

_“Ryoji I love you, please understand I have to do this,” Kotoko spoke quietly as a tear began to roll down her face._

“Those were the last words your mother and I said to each other, you were so young that you assumed your mother died from the pneumonia she had just gotten over. But the truth was that she died chasing after artifacts,” Ranka spoke as tears began to streak down his face

“Are you sure?” Haruhi said as she wiped her tears away.

“ **I am afraid so** ,” Mrs. Fredrick spoke coming out of nowhere.

 “ **Mrs. Fredrick, Why wasn’t I told about this?** ” Fuyumi asked as Haruhi felt the twins incase her in their arms as she clutched the pendant Kyoya had given her, it took everything she had not to fall apart.

“ **I attended Kotoko’s funeral, When it was over Ranka informed me that he wished that his daughter to have no part in the warehouse. At the time there was no reason to intervene** ,” the woman said quietly as she stepped further in to the room.

“ **What about her partner? Every Warehouse affiliate has one** ,” Claudia asked.

“ **Kotoko’s partner is still active but only slightly, after her death he became obsessed with stopping the man who murdered his partner. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in years,** ” 

“Haru-chan are you going to be okay?” Honey asked as he saw the natural type digging her nails in to the twin’s arms.

“I think I need a minute,” Haruhi managed to say as she climbed out of the hold the twins had on her as she made a beeline to Kyoya’s and her shared closet.

Locking the door behind her she heard each of the host trying to get to her, ignoring their please she dug through the closet finding the photo albums she had stolen from her father. Opening up the book to a random page she found herself gazing down at the image of her mother. Large tears began to roll down her cheeks as she felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her, as the sob broke the silence.  

“It’s okay baby girl,” Ranka cooed as he and his daughter finally mourned the loss of Kotoko together.

Haruhi felt her father’s tears drip on to her neck but found that at the moment she didn’t care. The truth was out, her mother was not only dead but she had been murdered. Justice had not been seen as no one, save the people in this apartment knew that fact. As their combined sobs began to end Haruhi looked over her father’s shoulder and saw the Host’s all standing in the doorway.

Standing up she ran towards them and launching herself into Kaoru, who wrapped his arms around her as the group surrounded her. Slowly she loosened her grip on the youngest twin, as the circle of people looked at the natural type host as she wiped her eyes.

“Haruhi,” the wild type host spoke, looking up in his eye she knew what he meant. _You don’t have to be strong in front of us._  

“I know Mori, but I can’t break down. I have to keep going; after all I am getting married in three days. Mom, wouldn’t want me to postpone the wedding due to something that I can’t change especially over something that happened so long ago.”

“Haruhi, you have my word as an Ootori we will find out who is responsible and make sure he pays,” Fuyumi said fiercely, as the natural type saw that the Americans had joined everyone in the bedroom.

“Before we do that,” A voice filled the room causing the whole group to look towards the man standing in the doorway to the bedroom. “I would like to know what you all are doing in my son’s home?”

 


	20. Yoshiro's Blame

“Father,” Fuyumi said quietly as she gapped in surprise at the Ootori Patriarch as he stood in the doorway of the master bedroom.

“I will only repeat myself once. What are you all doing in my son’s home?” the man asked sternly.  The sight of two security guards standing behind him caused the usually fearsome man to seem even more menacing.

“This is Haruhi’s home too,” Hikaru growled angrily.

“Haruhi?” Yoshiro asked.

“Me,” said the natural type host as she stepped forward.

Yoshiro stared down the woman and recognized her in the pictures that hung in the main area. Looking past the small girl he noticed the man sitting in the closet, the Ootori patriarch remembered him as the man in his office.  Shaking his head as his mind began to fill with uncharacteristic doubt; he began to focus on the few questions he knew he should ask.

“Why would my son allow you to live in his home?” the man sneered.

“I am his fiancé,” Haruhi said as she gripped the pendent Kyoya had gotten her, the ring on her left hand glittering.

“No you are not, and how did you get my wife’s ring?” Yoshiro growled in anger.

“You gave it to your son to give to me,” Haruhi said firmly as she curled her fingers in to a fist so that the man couldn’t take it from her.

_His son tried once and I have no doubt his father will try to do the same,_ she thought as she waited for the Ootori to step forward and grab her wrist.

“I would do no such thing,” the man spat, remaining in his position in the doorway.

“We have video proof that you did father,” Fuyumi said calmly, hoping that her father’s temper would not get the better of him. 

“Impossible,” Yoshiro growled as paused and took three deep breaths hoping to calm his mind that was running in circles.

_Nothing has made any sense for the last two days, ever since Fuyumi walked in to my office that morning. My life has been nothing but confusing._ The Ootori patriarch thought as he stared down the natural type host. _Whatever this is it has to do with her, and she will pay for it._

“No, I have seen it not only did you give the ring to Kyoya but you demanded, he quote make a spectacle of it,” Fuyumi said as she remember how her father had demanded Kyoya propose.

“I have had enough of this foolishness,” Yoshiro pulled out his phone to call more members of his security force. “Fuyumi, tonight after dinner we will have a discussion on the type of people that you should be associating with,”

“Yoshiro, don’t” Haruhi spoke calmly.

“Why should I listen to someone like you?” the man sneered.

“Because I know you,” the natural type said as she took a step closer to the man.

“What could you know of me?!” he shouted the question and his grip on is cellphone tightened.

“I know that you blame Kyoya for your wife’s death,”

_Haruhi sat in the limo, staring up at the impressive house. Kyoya and she had been back together for a little over two months now and the Ootori Patriarch had demanded he meet the girl his son was involved with. Her eyes were so focused on the large house that she had failed to notice her boyfriend had opened the limo door and gotten in._

_“You know it’s much less impressive on the inside,” he said with a chuckle as she jumped at the sound of his voice._

_“Kyoya, why would you do that to me?” the natural type asked breathlessly as she placed a hand over her racing heart._

_“Haruhi, nothing bad will happen. I’ll be right beside you the whole time; the worst thing that will happen is my brothers will say some snide comment or my sister will become overly dramatic. Both instances I know you can handle yourself in,” he said trying to reassure her as he grabbed her clenched hand and kissed each knuckle._

_“Kyoya, what if…” she began but was silenced as the shadow king silenced her with his lips._

_“Haruhi, I care far too much to let them do any kind of real damage. Besides the only one who could is father and he has already given me approval to date you,” the Shadow King said as he tried to calm down his nervous girlfriend._

_Haruhi rolled her eye ‘of course he would ask daddy for permission, I am more worried about Mr. Ootori changing his mind and Kyoya disappearing because of that’ she thought as she felt a tug on her wrist._

_“Come on, they won’t bite,” he said scooping her up into his arms he ran his nose up he neck as he whispered in to her hear, “but I will.”_

_Haruhi chuckled as she let her boyfriend pull her out of the car. Despite her attempts to keep them at bay, the twins had invaded her apartment early in the day to help her get ready, and thought at first she had tried to refuse. The natural type was happy that they hadn’t listened to a word she had said, and forced her in to the black, and white haltered cocktail dress she was wearing._

_Kyoya pulled her close to him as they walked down the corridors of the large house towards what he referred to as the sitting room. As they neared it there was a family portrait on one of the walls, a man and a woman stood next to each other their four children all standing in front of them. By the look of it Kyoya was about five when it was taken but what was odd was that unlike the other photos she had seen of the Ootoris they looked very happy in this one._

_“Kyoya, where have you been?” the man grumbled as he stood with his back to the couple gazing out the large window that over looked the back of the property._

_Looking over the room Haruhi noticed that all of Kyoya’s siblings were there with dates. Fuyumi smiled brightly at her and when she noticed that the natural type was looking at her she waved. Kyoya’s brothers on the other hand glared at her but the way Akito was scanning her body she instantly changed her mind and wished she wasn’t wearing the dress she had been forced in to._

_“I apologize, I was just waiting for my girlfriend to arrive,” he said emphasizing the fact that she was his as she caught him sending a deathly glare over towards Akito._

_“Very well,” the man said as he turned around to face the couple._

_Haruhi took a step forward placing herself between Kyoya and his father._

_“It’s nice to properly meet you I am Haruhi Fujioka,” She said smoothing as she held out her hand for him to shake._

_The room grew tense for the few moments it took Yoshiro to grasp her hands._

_“No my dear, the pleasure is all mine, now I hear you are a scholarship student,” the patriarch said as Haruhi felt Kyoya sigh in relief behind her._

_The conversation in the sitting room seemed to revolve around her and Kyoya’s relationship. As time went on she could tell that both of Kyoya’s brothers were not happy about the conversation. Soon she excused herself to the restroom. On her way back she found Yoshiro staring at the family portrait she had seen._

_“She would have loved you,” he said quietly._

_“Who would have?”  Haruhi asked as she moved to stand next to the man who continued to gaze at the photograph._

_“My wife, she was a lot like you. When I first asked my father if I could marry her he told me no. There was a daughter of a business associate he wanted me to marry, he never liked the fact that she came from a working class family,” Yoshiro said quietly._

_“Kyoya never told me,” the natural type said amazed, she always believed that Kyoya had gotten his view of the middle class from his father._

_“He doesn’t know, after we eloped I worked hard to build my own company to provide form my family, by the time Kyoya was born my father and mother had both passed and their company became my own,” the man said proudly._

_“If you don’t mind me asking how did she die?” Haruhi asked as she turned to look at the man._

_“Car accident, a drunk driver ran a red light,” Yoshiro spoke plainly; Haruhi knew that tone far too well._

_It was one she had heard her father use whenever he talked about her mother’s death. It was as if he had rehearsed saying it over and over again, so that he wouldn’t break whenever he was forced to speak those painful words._

_“I am sorry for your loss,” the natural type said quietly._

_“She never should have been out on the road in the first place,” the man said bitterly._

_“What happened?”_

_“We were at a charity event; Kyoya had just come down with a cold. In the middle of the event we get a call from the nanny, Kyoya’s temperature had spiked dangerously and she was taking him to the hospital. My wife couldn’t stand the idea that her baby was at the hospital without her so she left. She never made it there,” the resentment in his voice filled the otherwise quiet hall as he spoke._

_Haruhi stood next to the man for several moments, sighing she began to speak._

_“It sounds like you blame Kyoya for her death,” she said bluntly._

_Yoshiro choked in surprise at hearing the words uttered. His body became ridged as he took several deep breaths._

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he spat out but the wavering in his voice proved she was correct._

_“But what I don’t understand is why you would blame a sick boy for accident that took his mother?” she asked turning to look at the man._

_“The reason Kyoya was sick, was because the day before it had snowed. He wanted to go outside and play, but both the nanny and his mother were busy help his siblings and told him that he would have to wait until the next day. Kyoya being the stubborn boy he always is decided that he had waited long enough and went outside without the proper clothing. He was outside for nearly an hour before anyone knew what he had done. If Kyoya had simply listened to his mother she would still be here today,” Yoshiro spoke quietly as he turned his gaze back towards the picture._

_“I know losing your wife was painful for you, I can see the grief in your eyes but her death was in no way Kyoya’s fault. She died due to unfortunate circumstances, and even if you could go back in time and keep Kyoya from getting sick there is still no guarantee that she would still be alive today. All you can really do is hold on to the pieces of her you have left,” the natural type said as she turned her attention back to the photograph._

_Why he had decided to tell this girl thing he had kept lock away for years he did not know, but there was something about her that made him feel like she was a part of his family. Looking over at the girl as she gazed up at the portrait he saw that she was everything his wife had been and more, ‘hopefully Kyoya is not foolish enough to ever let her go’_

Yoshiro cursed silently as his mind began to clear, looking up at the girl her eyes filled with tears as he could see the regent on her face. No one knew what she did and one look at his son’s friends and his own daughter he saw the pure shock at learning the secret he had been keeping for so long.

“Father how could you?” Fuyumi asked as tears began to spill down his face.

“I will expect an explanation of these events Haruhi,” the man said as he turned to leave.

“Yoshiro, Wait!” Haruhi called after him as she ran to catch up with him. As she reached him she grabbed his should just before he turned the door knob to leave.

“Haruhi, I really must go,” he said but she could hear the pain behind his voice

“Yoshiro why were you here?” the natural type asked as she let go of his shoulder so he could turn around.

“I need some information on a project Kyoya started working on,” he said plainly.

“Which one is it? The community medical center? Because the architects haven’t finished the plans yet,” Haruhi had sat in on enough meetings to know that neither her fiancé or his father were not pleased that it was taking so long to break ground on the new enterprise.

“No, yesterday he never showed up at the company he was supposed to audit. I called his security team and they informed me that he had spent the entire day looking in to a specific person,” Yoshiro grumbled.

“Who?” the natural type asked excitedly, hoping her plan had worked.

“You, when I heard the name if felt familiar. I thought maybe it was through business but when I found you information stored under my family’s file I decided to look you up and Kyoya has the best system for that,”

“He’s looking in to me?” Haruhi asked smiling for the first time in days.

“Yes, Haruhi what’s going on?” Yoshiro inquired.

“Someone decided to take over the wedding; they used these weird objects to make everyone forget me,” Haruhi said the familiar phrase once again.

“Is it the Sohma’s?” the Ootori asked as his eyes began to narrow in rage.

“How did you know?” she asked as she looked up at him in surprise.

“Before you came in to his life, I had planned on having Kyoya marry their daughter, but once you and he got together and I saw how happy you made him. I could never take that away from him,” Yoshiro spoke quietly as he looked over the girl. “I will do what I can to help you; I will call off the wedding,”

“No! I mean thank you but I don’t want them to know how many I was able to reawaken their memories,” Haruhi said firmly as she took a deep breath.

“Then I shall endeavor to do so but I will stop this wedding before my son speaks his vows,” he said turning to leave before calling over his shoulder “Unless they are to you,”

Haruhi walked back towards the bedroom unaware that the smile had yet to leave her face. As she entered the room the Honey chuckled as the twins looked at her in confusion.

“What with the face?” Hikaru asked.

“Yeah I can’t remember the last time you looked this happy,” Kaoru said as he looked over at his twin.

“Haruhi?” Reiko asked as she placed a hand on to the natural type’s shoulder.

“He’s looking for me,” Haruhi whispered. 

 


	21. I'll Make You a Deal

An incessant beeping woke Haruhi. Groaning in protest she slammed her hand down on the alarm clock on the bedside table, the noise finally ending. Rolling over she stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the events of last night. After Yoshiro had left she had caught the group up on what Ritsu had told her. The most disturbing revelation was that neither Fuyumi nor Mrs. Fredrick knew about the house in Adachi. _As if we don’t have enough to worry about already,_ she thought as the soft sound of several voices traveled through the wall.

The twins and Emma had refused to go home the night before, causing her apartment to become overly crowed. _Two more days, two more days I should be excited not scared_ , the natural type mused as she sat up in bed. Glancing over at her phone she noticed how many notifications she had.  Two emails, five texts and one voice message all from one person.

“What does Mr. Ito want?” Haruhi asked to the empty room.

Reading over the texts and emails they all seemed very frantic and each told her to get in contact with him immediately. She pressed the play button as she placed the phone up to her ear to listen to the voice mail.

“Haruhi, I know it is supposed to be your week off but I need you to come to the office. It is urgent that I see you,” The desperation in his normally calm and stoic voice shocked the natural type host.

Groaning in protest she quickly rolled out of bed and walked towards her closet. Stepping over the still open boxes of photo albums she glanced at her designer label filled closet. Sighing in annoyance she grabbed a blouse and a pair of dress slacks. Dressing quickly she scurried over to the bathroom to finished getting ready. Ten minutes late she was walking out of her bedroom towards the living room. When she walked around the corner the sight that greeted her angered her to no end.

Honey was at least three cakes in to breakfast as he was bouncing worriedly by the bathroom door; based on the sound coming from it Rieko was struggling with a bout of morning sickness. Hanna must have locked herself in the closet because Takashi was sitting in front of it, despite the fact that he looked calm Haruhi knew that he was rather pissed off about what ever had happened that sent his wife in to a fit. The twins were playing keep away with a gadget that Claudia had been working on, while Pete and Myka were both holding her back from tearing the boys apart. Emma was in the middle of some kind of break down because her kitchen was over flowing with pastries. And finally her father was sitting in the middle of the mess egging the twins on from his spot on her coach.

“ **Everybody stop now**!” Haruhi shouted as all movement and noise came to a halt.

Walking over to the boy Lolita she began to speak.

“Honey, go run off however much cake you have eaten, and while you’re out pick up some herbal tea. It should help Rieko with her morning sickness,” she said as she turned towards the wild type host.

“Mori, when Hanna comes out tell her she can lock herself in our bedroom if things get out of hand. But she may enjoy the patio more, the gardener finally got around to planting those flowers she gave us,” the natural type said as the kendo master nodded his head as she pivoted towards the twins her glare hardening.

“Return Miss. Donovan’s device, I would have hoped you both knew better or at least you would Kaoru,” she said to the twin on her right as she walked passed them.

“Hey!” Hikaru shouted in offence as his twin snickered at his brother’s expense.

“ **Emma, while I am glad you are happy please remember we won’t be able to eat all of this. There is a mission down the street that will be happy to take most of this and put it to good use** ,” Haruhi spoke as the timer on the stove buzzed as she turned towards the Americans.

“ **As for you three I don’t even want to know, just don’t wreck the apartment,** ” Haruhi said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

“Dad I am going out. Please remember you are the oldest one here, so act like it,” the natural type sighed as she walked over to the door and slipped on her flats.

“Where are you going?” Kaoru asked as he picked up a pastry and began eating it.

“Mr. Ito called and said that it was urgent that he see me today,” she said as she slipped on her jacket that was hanging in the coat closet by the front door.

“Doesn’t he know you’re off until you get back from your honeymoon?” Hikaru asked as he held out the device for Claudia to take. 

The American snatched it out of his hand and marched back to her room slamming the door.

“Yes, but I will only be gone for a few hours, he sounded desperate,” Haruhi said as she walked out of the apartment leaving the chaos behind her.

Stepping in to the waiting limo Haruhi rolled down the divider.

“Hotta, Please take me to the office,” she said after several minutes of sitting still she looked out the window as saw that there was no traffic blocking their exit.

“Hotta?” Haruhi called again.

“I am afraid your driver is a little preoccupied,” a female voice called from the front seat.

Moving closer she saw a woman sitting in the front seat a strange orange glow coming from the driver’s side.  She tried to move so that she could see what was emitting the strange light but stopped as soon as the woman spoke.

“I wouldn’t look in to the lamp, it has a tendency to overly captivate its victims and I need to talk to you,” the voice cooed as Haruhi tried to see who was speaking but all she was able to see was the back of a blond woman’s head.

“Who are you?” the natural type asked as she reached in to her bag and pulled out her audio recorder and hit play.

“I am Kyoya’s fiancée,” the woman purred.

“No I was the one Kyoya asked to marry him,” Haruhi growled as she twirled her engagement ring.

“Even if he asked you, that still doesn’t mean you will be the one marring him,” the arrogance in Jun’s voice caused Haruhi to snap.

“At least I am not the one who had to stoop so low to try to get him,” the natural type growled.

“He was always supposed to be mine; you were the one who stole him from me,” the girl hissed in anger as she continued to stare out the front window but Haruhi saw the briefest sight of sunglasses on the girl. .

“I didn’t steal him. He came running,” Haruhi batted and smiled smugly as she saw the girl fidgeted in irritation.

“Look I am a very busy woman so I will cut to the chase.  You are making a rather large nuisance of yourself so here is the deal. You can have the Hosts and their girlfriends I have no need or use for them in my life, but you leave Kyoya and his family to me,” Jun spoke harshly as she reached in to her bad and tossed a large envelope over her shoulder at Haruhi.

“Why would I agree to a deal like that?” the natural type asked as she opened the envelope.

Inside was a contract that basically stated that if she stopped perusing Kyoya and left the rest of the Ootoris alone not only would the Sohma’s leave her and the rest of the hosts alone but she would be well compensated for it. _This bitch is trying to buy me,_ Haruhi thought as she sneered at the papers in her hand.

“Because I have access to artifacts that can do a lot more than just erase someone’s memories,” Jun spoke smugly.

“Are you threating me?” Haruhi scoffed at the audacity of what she was proposing, _I don’t care what she will do to me I swore I would fight for Kyoya and that is just what I intend to do_.

“No I am threating your family and not just your absurd excuse for a father. Those friends of yours are more venerable than they know,” the woman mused evilly.

“You do realize that you have just openly threatened the heirs of five of the wealthiest families in Japan?” the natural type asked.

“It will start out small; maybe I will send some friends of mine to visit Mrs. Morinozuka. You know they are so lonely they just need some company; after all I am sure if she has done it once she can do it again.” A sick feeling began to build in the pit of Haruhi’s stomach at the treat and grew worse as the woman continued to speak

 “And then of course there are so many accidents that can happen on a day to day basis and with Mrs. Haninozuka being in such a fragile state right now it would be a shame if anything happened to her,” Jun spoke as if she were thinking out loud the pure delight in the cruelty of her words filled Haruhi with dread as she had to bite back the impulse to physically lash out at the woman.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Haruhi snarled as she gripped the contract nearly ripping it in two.

“I would, but not If you sign the contract. I will give you a day to think it over,” the woman spoke as the strange orange glow stopped coming from the front seat as she quickly exited the vehicle.

After several minutes the driver turned to the back seat finding Haruhi tightly gripping a stack of papers that were now crumbled in her hands.

“Miss. Haruhi what can I do for you?” Hotta asked from the front seat.

“Hotta are you alright?” Haruhi asked as she looked over the driver trying to see if there was anything physically wrong with him.

“Yes miss, shall I take you somewhere?” He asked politely, like he always had.

“Not right now, I forgot something upstairs,” the natural type said as she flew out the door back towards her building. 

As she exited the elevator she opened the door to find the group sitting down to breakfast. The group looked up in surprise at her sudden appearance.

“Well that was fast,” Hikaru mumbled before seeing the panic on Haruhi’s face.

“ **Do you have a way of contacting Fuyumi without someone finding out?”** Haruhi asked Claudia without looking at the worried faces of the rest of the group.

**“Yeah just give me a moment,”** the American said as she dug through her bag and pulled out the Farnsworth.  Pushing a few buttons the strange metallic ring tone filled the tense apartment.

“ **Claudia what’s wrong?”** Fuyumi’s voice filled the apartment as Haruhi took the box as looked at the video feed.

“ **Fuyumi we have a situation,”** the natural type said desperately as she began pacing.

**“Haruhi what’s wrong?”** Fuyumi asked as she watched the girl from her own screen.

**“I just finished talking to Jun,”** Haruhi spoke hurriedly.

**“How is that possible?”** Honey asked.

**“She used an artifact to incapacitate the driver,”** the natural type responded.

**“Which one?”** Myka asked interrupting Haruhi.

**“I don’t know it was some kind of lamp, all I could see was an orange glow,”** the natural type said shaking her head.

**“What did she want?”** Fuyumi asked bitterly.

**“Here you can hear for yourselves,”** Haruhi spoke as she pulled out the recorder and hit play.

She watched the host’s faces as they listened to the sinister conversation that had just occurred. Both Honey and Takashi pulled their wives closer at the specific treats that had been made against the two women. Rieko clung a little tighter to Honey but Hanna began shaking and sobbing in her husband’s arms at the knowledge of what had been said.

“ **What do we do now?”** Hanna asked through her sobs.

**“Make sure everyone is safe is top priority especially Rieko’s and Hanna’s since they were specifically targeted,”** Myka said firmly as she went to her bag.

**“I’ll call for extra security,”** Fuyumi began to speak

**“No I don’t think that is wise,”** Honey said interrupting the Ootori.

**“But Honey,”** Hikaru began but was quickly interrupted by Honey.

**“No, this woman wants Haruhi away from the Ootoris and we don’t know if she knows about you and your father. I think it is best if we move the base of operations over to my family’s estate. There is a lot more space, better privacy, and we can ensure everyone’s safety. After all it was my family that trained your security force,”** the boy Lolita said forcefully.

**“I agree with Honey on this one, I think we should keep contact to a minimum for the time being,”** Haruhi said.

**“Alright, I’ll keep the Farnsworth handy it’s the only way we can communicate without being traced,”** Fuyumi said just before ending the call.

**“So everyone needs to get packed up. I’ll get a bag packed,”** the natural type said as she closed the metal box and walked back towards the bedroom.

Not really caring what she packed Haruhi grabbed an empty bag and started filling it with random things not really paying attention. Once it was full she grabbed it and the bag that was packed for her honeymoon and started making her way back towards the front. Once she turned the corner to the living room she noticed that there were only two people left in the apartment, Honey and Myka stood conversing quietly by the door both of their bags sitting at their feet.

“ **Where is every one?** ” Haruhi asked.

“ **Claudia went off with your dad to look at your mom’s old files** ,” Myka spoke as she bent down and picked up her bag.

“ **And Pete went with Takashi, Rieko, and Hanna back to my family’s estate** ,” Honey said as he did the same.

“ **What about the twins and Emma,** ” the natural type asked.

“ **Emma had to go to work and Hika-Chan went with her and Kao-Chan said he wanted to be alone for a while** ,” Honey spoke his voice trailing off as he finished speaking.

Haruhi nodded her head knowing that the younger twin was probably feeling like a third wheel with all of the couples around, the trio walked out of the apartment, just before shutting the door she turned and looked back into the now empty space. Sighing she closed the door as a single tear steaked down her cheek.

“ **So where to now?** ” Myka asked

“ **I need to go see my boss, I never made it to the office this morning** ,” Haruhi spoke as the trio walked in to the elevator.


	22. The Runaway Boss

Haruhi walked towards the office building with Honey and Myka on her heels the mid-day sun beating down on them as the chilly February breeze that ran between the large skyscrapers cut through the jacket Haruhi had put on causing her to hurry towards their destination.  As she walked through the doors the absence of the guard sitting at the security desk surprised her. Figuring he must have gone to the rest room, she went behind the desk and grabbed two guest badges and handed them to her companions. The eerie quite that filled the usually loud building caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up.

" **Keep close to me** ," Haruhi murmured as she walked towards the elevator.

Once inside she swiped her key card and pressed the button for the top floor. On the way up the tense atmosphere grew worse as the trio continued their trip. When the doors finally opened the sight that greeted them was shocking. The usually well-organized and busy office was in shambles. Desks and cabinets were tipped over their drawer’s left wide open the contents missing. Several actually looked like they had been pried open. The contents of the drawers were spread across the entire room as a thick layer of paper and file folders coated the entire floor. Myka reached for her Tesla as the natural type host began to move the papers out of the way clearing a path towards her boss’s office.

 " **I am going to call the police** ," Honey said as he pulled out his phone glancing at the screen he noticed that something was missing. " **There is no cell service**."

As they reached the office Myka lead the way Honey motioned for Haruhi to stay put as he helped the secret service agent clear the room, once the area was cleared the natural type host walked in as well. Mr. Ito’s office was in worse condition that the rest of the office, the books that once filled the shelves where scattered around the room several looked like they had been torn to shreds, and several of the shelves had been turned over. There were five or six holes that had been punched in to the walls. The computer monitor was dangling over the side of the desk by its cords several small cracks in the screen.

" **This explains the no cell service** ," Myka spoke as she held up a cell jammer in her gloved hand turning it off with a click.

" **And the no security** ," Honey said as he stood by the open closet door finding two tied up unconscious guards.

"Are they dead?" Haruhi asked as she walked over to them. Honey bent down and felt for a pulse.

 "No they are alive, **I'll call for help** ," the boy Lolita said as he stood to walk out of the room.  

“ **Wait I have an idea first let me call Claudia** ,” Myka said as she texted the tech genius. “ **They are on their way here.”**

Haruhi walked over towards the computer at her boss’s desk righting the monitor and tried turning it on when she did the familiar kill screen came on.

"Damn it!" She exclaimed.

“What?" Honey asked as he walked over to the natural type host.

"In the event of something like this happening if someone other than an authorized user tries to access the computers or any authorized user type a specific code in to the computer we have a program that wipes all of the hard drives,” the natural type explained as she tried to figure out what had happened but too much time had passed and all the information had been dumped.

"What about all the information?" the boy Lolita asked as he watched his friend try to get any information out of the computer.

"We do daily backups," Haruhi said as she walked over towards a framed photo that was hanging lopsided.

Pressing a code on the key pad a small panel emerged from the wall on the opposite side a hand scanner on its top. Placing her hand on the screen an automated voice asked for confirmation. "Fujioka Haruhi" she spoke as a green light appeared on the box as it unlocked

"Shit!" Haruhi exclaimed as she pulled out the foam padding.

“ **What is that for**?” Myka asked

“ **It’s where we keep all of the zip drives that hold all of the backup information and they are all gone,** ” the natural type said frustrated as she threw the foam back in to the drawer. 

After twenty minutes the sound of the elevator opening filled the otherwise quiet office.

“ **Did someone call for back up?** ” Claudia’s enthused voice came through the office as Myka opened the door.

“ **How did you get up here?** ” Haruhi asked as she saw her father look around the destroyed office.

“ **This little do hickey lets me get through anything** **kind of security** ,” Claudia said with a smile as she held up what looked like a tumbler lock with several strange wires attached to it on end of it.

“ **Claud did you bring the Durational Spectrometer?** ” Myka asked as both redheads walked in to the office as Claudia reached in to her bag.

“ **Never leave home without it!** ” the tech girl exclaimed as she held up a strange looking device she turned the dial as Myka motioned for Haruhi and Honey to get behind Claudia.

The device looked like a radar gun, but on the end was a glowing red orb. As Claudia moved the object an image of a transparent honey walking around the room and opening the door to the closet as the beam passed over each area.

“ **What is this?** ” Haruhi asked as watched Claudia turn the dial.

“ **Durational Spectrometer, it will show what’s happened in any given space in the last five hours, unfortunately it only shows video not audio,”** the red head responded as she lifted the device once more.

As the beam swept the room again the sight of several masked men trashing the office tipping over book cases and punching holes in to walls, one fired a gun which caused the damage to the screen.

“ **What about the other employee’s it a Thursday where are they?** ” Claudia asked herself as she turned the dial once more and moved to encompass the entire office area.

Haruhi recognized all of her coworkers as they began to quickly exit the floor; several wore confused expressions as they were chased in to the elevator by Mr. Ito who after the last employee left locked out the entire floor. Claudia followed him as he walked from the elevator and back towards his office, Haruhi and Claudia followed him to his computer as she watched him impute the kill code. 

“Why would he do that?” Haruhi watched as her boss stood and emptied his brief case and quickly walked over to the painting.

Imputing the code he put the frame back in place and walked over to the secret compartment and took all of the zip drives and what really surprised Haruhi was when he flipped over the foam and pulled a small piece up revealing two more flash drives that the natural type host had never seen before.  Pulling the last two flash drives he placed them in a special case and safely tucked them in to the inside pocket of his jacket.  Taking the zip drives he placed them in his brief case and quickly exited the floor as he pulled the power for all the monitors in the main area as he left the floor. 

Haruhi pulled out her cell as she scrolled through her phone for Mr. Ito’s number upon reaching it she presses thecal button as Claudia packed the up the device. Soon an automated voice filled her ear.

“The number you are trying to reach is no longer in service,” the automated message cut out as the natural type host hung up her phone. Trying the three other numbers she had for him but she got the same message again and again.

“Mr. Ito’s on the run,” she said quietly as she finally put her phone away.

“Why would he do that?” Honey asked as Haruhi collapsed in the chair.

“I don’t know I mean he knew the office was going to be ransacked but I have no idea what was on those two flash drives I had never seen them before,” Haruhi said as her father came up behind her.

“All we can do is call the police,” Ranka said finally as he walked over and put his hand on his daughter’s shoulders.

It took several hours to get through the police reports and since Haruhi was the only employee she had been questioned separately.  Thankfully they had bought their cover story and had released them. It was nearing midnight by the time they made it back to the Haninozuka estate. The twins had pulled Haruhi in to a hug as she collapsed in their arms.

“ **What happened?** ” Pete asked Myka as she sat down on the couch in Honey’s private wing.

“ **The place was a disaster** ,” Claudia said as everyone gathered around the coffee table.

“ **Did you at least get to talk to Mr. Ito?** ” Hikaru asked as he looked at the Natural type host in his and his brother’s arms as she shook her head.

“ **No he was gone by the time we go there, and the entire office had been ransacked, the reason we are so late is because it took forever for the authorities to release us,** ” Haruhi said as a servant brought out a tray of food for all of the new arrivals, as they caught every one up on what they had learned at the office.

“ **So what do we do next?** ” Kaoru asked.

“ **We still have two more flowers to get, and that is what I intent to do tomorrow** ,” Haruhi said as she picked up her tray and turned to everyone, “ **Now if you will excuse me I think I will eat and then go to sleep I suggest everyone do the same,** ” 

 


	23. Tamaki's Love

“ **So Haruhi what the plan**?” Hikaru asked as he sat in the limo with Haruhi, his brother and Pete.

Despite trying to convince everyone to let her do this on her own, the twins had refused and demanded that they go with her. Honey had insisted that Pete go with them to provide so semblance of protection. After an hour of arguing about it Hikaru and Kaoru had picked her up and carried her to the waiting car as Pete followed giving her no choice in the matter.

“ **The plan is for you to all to stay here, while I go in and talk to Tamaki, Alone!** ” Haruhi said as she continued to gaze out the window as the city began to fade in to the background.

“ **Haruhi the reason we came is because the boss will probably won’t let you in, but he will let us in so you can just sneak in behind us** ,” Kaoru said from his seat next to the natural type host.

“ **May I remind you both that it was your butler who let in me in, Shima will do the same,** ” the natural type said looking between the twins,

“ **Yeah but you know how he is. Tonto will defiantly freak out we can calm him down** ,” Hikaru said with a mischievous smile.

“In my experience you both just make it worse,” Haruhi muttered as the Suoh second mansion came in to view.

After Tamaki had been name the heir to Suoh enterprises, he had made the decision to move out of the main estate and back to the second. It was a move that his grandmother hadn’t approved of but the half French man preferred the freedom that the second estate allowed rather that the fussy rules that his grandmother enforced. Even after the woman had passed away Tamaki stayed stating that this would be his home and though his father was disappointed the Chairman had allowed his son to do as he pleased.

The limo pulled up to the house and just as Haruhi had predicted it was Shima who was standing outside to greet them,

“Miss. Haruhi,” the woman greeted with a bow.

“Shima, it is good to see you have you been well?” Haruhi asked as she bowed in return.

“Very much so, work is good for those of old age, I presume you are here to see Master Tamaki,” the woman said as she ushered the group in to the house.

“Yes, is he in the piano room?” Haruhi asked as they turned down the familiar hallway.

“No, he hasn’t been in the music room for some time, I am worried about him Miss. Haruhi he hasn’t mentioned you for almost a week,” Shima said as they passed by the empty music room.

Looking in Haruhi noted that the grand piano that sat in the room was closed up; a maid ran a duster over the keys a few playing softly as the fabric ran over them and closed the key cover after she had finished.

“Well I have been very busy recently hopefully my visit can get him back to normal,” Haruhi said chuckling nervously.

“Shall I bring you refreshments?” Shima said as she stopped in front of the closed office door.

“No Shima that won’t be necessary,” the natural type host said as she shook her head.

“Very well Miss. Haruhi,” the woman bowed as she left the group standing by the door.

Haruhi knocked gently after the woman had disappeared from the hallway.

“Enter,” Tamaki’s voiced called through the door.

Opening the door Haruhi found the odd sight of the host club king sitting at his desk in silence. Usually the half French man did all his work while listening to some kind of music. The quiet caused the already uneasy feeling in her stomach to increase as she walked in to the room with the twins and Pete behind her closing the door. At the sound of the latch clicking Tamaki looked up from his paper work. The light that was once in his violet eyes was gone, and the sight nearly broke Haruhi heart.

“Who are you?” He asked as he stared at the natural type host.

“My name is Haruhi Fujioka,” She said quietly.

“Haruhi, why does that name sound familiar?” Tamaki asked as he leaned back in his chair, the flower was pinned in to his cravat keeping it in place the natural type host reached in to her back pocket and pulled on a purple glove.  “Wait I know! You’re that stalker!”

“No…” Haruhi began but was quickly interrupted by the Host club King’s exuberant musings.

“What am I going to do? I can’t deal with this I have three deadlines that need to be meet, Marie is going to kill me!” the half French man shouted as he stood and began pacing his arms flailing around as he spoke.

The twins grinned at each other as they walked towards Tamaki their hands clasped behind their backs. The mischievous smirk on their faces caused Haruhi to shutter as they inched closer to the princely type.

“Don’t worry everything is going to be all right,” they cooed in unison as they put a hand on each of the blonde’s shoulder.

“Devil twins, this is all your doing!” Tamaki shouted as he turned his head to look at each twin accusingly.

Soon without anyone releasing what had happened the twins had force Tamaki back in to his chair and in spite of his flailing resistance had managed to tie the half French man to his chair.

“Traitors, I swear when I call Kyoya….” Tamaki began ranting but was immediately silenced as Hikaru shoved his handkerchief in to the man’s mouth.

“I don’t think that the Shadow King is going to do anything,” he chuckled as he watched the sight before him.

Tamaki tried desperately to scoot away but the chair had been moved to the front of the desk and had been secured to one of the legs of the desk with another length of rope leaving the Host club king stranded in the middle of the room. His torso was bound by rope that was wrapped around the back of the chair that even wrapped down to his ankles keeping his legs bound together. Two smaller pieces kept his hands attached to the arms of the chair. All the while the blonde continued to shout and wiggle free in protest but thanks to the cloth shoved in his mouth came out as nothing but garbled speech.

“ **Where did they get the rope?** ” Pete asked Haruhi as she rolled her eyes as the twins who were threating to draw on Tamaki’s face with permeant marker as he was trying to move his face away from the uncapped pen.

“ **I stopped asking those kinds of questions a long time ago,** ” the natural type sighed. “Okay you two knock it off!” she shouted at the little devil type hosts.

The twins looked behind their shoulders at Haruhi as she walked towards them, they parted ways and she reached out and plucked the glass flower off of the half French man,

“Please remember why we are here,” Haruhi said as she pulled out a sliver bag and dropped the flower in it.

Tamaki watched wide eyed as the flower sparked as it made contact with the bag. Looking between the twins confused he muttered something but whatever it was lost in to the cloth.

“Don’t worry Tonto everything will make sense in a minute,” Kaoru spoke softly as he noticed the natural type trembling.

“You guys need to leave,” she said softly as she looked down and stared at the floor.

“Why?” Hikaru asked as he turned to look at the natural type host.

“Please,” Haruhi begged as tears began to stream down her face.

Hikaru looked up at his twin in confusion, he had never heard Haruhi beg before and the sight didn’t sit well with him. _How bad could Tonto’s truth be that she wouldn’t just say it. It can’t be worse than Mr. Ootori’s._ The elder twin thought as he saw the understanding flash in his twin’s eyes.

“Come on Hikaru, I think you should call your wife,” Kaoru said flatly as he pulled his brother out of the office.

“ **I’ll be right outside if you need me,** ” Pete said as he shut the office door leaving Haruhi and Tamaki alone. 

“If you promise not to shout I’ll take this out,” Haruhi said pointing to the cloth that had been shoved in the princely type’s mouth.

The blonde nodded his head impatiently. The natural type leaned over and pulled the cloth from his mouth. The host club king coughed a few times, and looked up in to Haruhi’s eyes.

“So if you’re not a stalker, then who are you?” Tamaki asked as he looked the girl up and down.

“Someone you care deeply about,” the natural type said as she placed the cloth back on the desk.

“How can I care deeply for someone I have just meet?” the princely type asked as he tuned the chair so he was looking at the Haruhi’s back.

“Sempai…” Haruhi began speaking but her voice broke as she tightly clutched the damp cloth.

“Come now a princess as pretty as you shouldn’t be crying,” Tamaki said softly.

Haruhi laughed bitterly, after her secret had been revealed the Host Club king had promised that he would never call her a princess again. The fact that he was now just caused the pain Haruhi was feeling to double. _I have no choice I have to do this,_ the natural type thought as she looked out the window before speaking.

“Tamaki… you’re in love with me,”

_For the first time in her life as a host Haruhi wasn’t cleaning up after the mess that they had made that day. It was the last day of school for the third years and the host club had held a party to celebrate Honey’s and Takashi’s achievement. And with her debt paid off Kyoya had gone ahead and hired help to clean up after the group._

_Quietly Haruhi grabbed her bag from the changing area as she heard the last of the maids leave. Walking out of the back room she found Tamaki sitting on his usual sofa, staring out the window. A serious look in his eyes as the palm of his left had covered his mouth as the elbow rested on the back of the sofa. The click of the door closing caused him to look over at her._

_“I am sorry to interrupt Sempi, I didn’t think anyone was here,” Haruhi said._

_“That’s alright I was waiting for you,” He said calmly as he looked at the natural type host longingly._

_“Why?” the natural type asked as she set her bag down on the ground figuring that he would ask her to rearrange the furniture again._

_At least once a week he would have her rearrange the furniture and by the next day he had it back where it originally was._

_“Because I have something to tell you,” the princely type spoke decisively as he stood up and walked over to the brunette._

_“What….” Haruhi began to speak but was immediately stopped as she felt Tamaki’s lips press against her own._

_‘Wrong, wrong, this is wrong’ Haruhi thought as she felt Tamaki place a hand on her neck and press his lips in to her own firmly. Too shocked to do anything about it she stood there trying to figure out what she should do, but as quickly as it had started it ended. Tamaki’s violet eyes flicked to her’s and Haruhi saw the flash of pain that filled them._

_“I am in love with you,” he whispered to her as Haruhi saw the joy saying that caused him._

_“Sempi,” she began but was quickly interrupted._

_“But I know you love him,” the pain in Tamaki’s voice ripped through Haruhi as she stood still in shock._

_“I... I don’t love anyone,” the brunette defended as she watched Tamaki turn to look out the window._

_Haruhi walked up next to him and saw Kyoya sitting under a tree as he stared at his laptop screen. The frustration on in his eyes was apparent as he slammed the laptop closed shoving it in to his bag. The last few weeks she has seen the cracks in his façade that the Shadow King usually hid. She didn’t know why but it really bothered her that he was unhappy but she pushed those feelings aside._

_“He hasn’t been the same since you two split; I know neither of you ever put a label on what you were. But still those four months you were together… I have never seen him happier,” the princely type said as he looked over at the natural type out of the corner of his eye._

_“I highly doubt that, he probably got chewed out by his dad again. It’s not like he wants me anyway,” Haruhi said as she remembered when she told him that she would be attending any more parties with him._

_He had said that he had been considering ending their agreement; this just proved to him that she felt the same way. But a small part of her said that he didn’t mean it, but this as the Shadow king and if he really still wanted her he would have done whatever he could to keep her. In spite of everything that had gone on between the pair she couldn’t stop herself from defending him when his father had come to the Host club during the fair. ‘He probably is upset at be because of that’ the natural type thought as she watched Kyoya stand to leave._

_“No Haruhi, he needs you and that frightened him,” Tamaki said as he leaned against the window the serious looking on his face seemed out of place._

_“How did you find out about this?”  The natural type asked as she walked over to the coach needing to sit down._

_It had been almost two months and she knew that she and Kyoya had made sure to keep their arrangement secret from the rest of the hosts. The feat made almost impossible because of the twins demands to know why she all of a sudden needed new dresses nearly every week._

_“A few weeks after, I ran in to him at a party, oddly enough he was drunk. And apparently a drunken Kyoya is very chatty and honest. After he told me all about it, I made sure to get him home. Thankfully his father never found out,” the half French man said as he walked around to stand in front of her._

_“I don’t understand,” Haruhi said as she looked up at Tamaki._

_“Go to him, I know you well enough to guess that you realizes how attached you had become and that scared you. But I will not let you hurt him because you’re afraid,” the resolve in Tamaki’s voice surprised her._

_“Tamaki,” Haruhi tried to find something to say but found for the first time she didn’t know how to handle the host club king’s strange mood._

_“And if he breaks your heart I’ll always be right here to pick up the pieces,”_

_“_ Haruhi, would you please untie me,” Tamaki’s hallow voice filled the office.

Turning around she saw the recognition in his eyes, silently she began to work on the knots. And awkward silence filled the room as she untied one arm and moved to work on the knot behind the chair.

“All those years ago, why did you push me back to Kyoya?” Haruhi asked breaking the silence.

“There were a few reasons. After the incident involving the fair my grandmother wasn’t very pleased with me. She threated to destroy the club if I stepped out of line again. The others would have been fine their families are too important to the future of Suoh Enterprises for her to outright attack them, but you she would have destroyed you. Even after the Torne family fell she still had other plans for me and I know that even trying to peruse you wouldn’t go over with her. So I kept silent,” Tamaki spoke as he used his free hand to untie the other.

Once both were free he rubbed both wrists, small red indentations were where the rope had made contact with his skin.

“What were the other reasons?” Haruhi asked as she unknotted the rope but found that there was a second knot after halfway unraveling the length. Sighing in aggravation she began to unknot that one as well.

“It would have changed the group dynamic too much,” he muttered.

“The group dynamic changed after the fair anyway, all the guys assumed we were dating anyway,” she said as she struggled with the knot.

“The main reason was that I knew how Kyoya felt about you and how you felt about him in return,” He said softly his head hanging in defeat.

“Tamaki,” Haruhi began as she finally loosened the knot.

“As much as I love you, I could never stand in the way of your happiness and while watching you both over the years has been hard the only comfort came from the fact that he made you so happy,” Tamaki’s voice broke as he spoke.

The natural type sat back on her heels as she watched him bend down and untie his legs. After he stood he turned to face the natural type.

“I never meant to hurt you Tamaki,” she spoke softly as the tears trailed down her face.

“I know, mon véritable amour,” the princely type said as he knelt down and wiped a tear off of her cheek.

“I am sorry,” Haruhi spoke as she looked up at Tamaki.

“There is nothing to be sorry about, I stepped aside. But my promise still stands I will always be here for you,” the blonde spoke as he pulled the crying girl in to a hug. 

Haruhi cried for several minutes as the host club king held her close a rubbed her back. It broke his heart to hear her so upset but he knew that there were few people that Haruhi would ever fall apart in front of and he felt blessed to be a part of those few.

“God I have never cried this much in my life as I have this week,” she said as she clung on to Tamaki.

“What’s going on?”  He asked as he loosened his hold on the girl in his arms.

“The Sohma’s are trying to have Kyoya marry their eldest daughter instead of me,” she said as she pulled herself from the half French man’s arms, wiping the remaining tears away off of her face.

“How is that possible?” He asked as he stood.

“It’s a long story,” Haruhi said from her spot on the floor.

“Well I will always have time to listen to anything you wanted to say to me,” He said as he held out his hand to help her up. 

“Before we do there is something I need you to do,” the natural type said as she smoothed her clothing.

“Anything,” Tamaki said with a smile.

“I need you to call Marie over here, she has a flower,” Haruhi said as she finished pulling herself together.

“That won’t be necessary,” the princely type said as his smile fell.

“Why is that?” the natural type asked as she looked up at confusion at the unexpected drastic change in Tamaki’s emotions.

“Because Marie is already here,” he spoke softly as Haruhi gasped.

Turing around she found the twins and Pete standing in the door way, by the look on their faces she knew that they had ease dropped on the entire conversation. But standing in the middle of them was a very pissed of Marie.

“Tamaki is there something you wish to tell me?”

 


	24. Marie's Concession

“Tamaki is there something you wish to tell me?” Marie asked fiercely.

“Marie this isn’t what you think it is,” Tamaki pleaded as he began to walk towards her.

“I have accepted the fact that you are a shameless flirt, after all it does close many business deals. But I will not tolerate this blatant act of cheating,” the French woman roared stopping the host club king in his tracks with a jump at the fierce anger in her voice.

“Marie please there is a logical explanation for this,” Haruhi began to speak but was soon cut off.

“I will listen to nothing you have to say, whether you were aware he was two timing both of us or not I will not stand for it,” the blonde woman shouted as she tightly gripped the strap of her purse.

Thankfully the flower was easy to spot as it was attached to a thin chain that hung from her neck.  Haruhi looked up at the twins trying to figure out how to get the flower away from the girl. Hikaru smirked arrogantly looking over at his brother tilting his head towards the French woman then walked forward and placed an arm across the raging girls shoulder.

“Marie this necklace doesn’t go with this dress at all,” the elder twin cooed as his brother came to the other side of the French woman, knowing just what his brother was planning.

“Hikaru I know accessories are your ‘thing’” she said as she over exaggerated the word, “but now is not the time!” Marie shouted as she glared at the devil type host.

 “Oh contraire, there is never a time that is not appropriate to talk about accessories,” Hikaru spoke as he moved his hand towards the clasp “Especially when they totally ruin the outfit,” he spoke as he unclasped the necklace.  

Kaoru quickly moved his hand to catch the falling flower and tossed it towards the natural type host, who caught it and quickly dropped it in the bag with Tamaki’s flower.

“Would you two stop it Tamaki’s and my relationship is falling apart and all you want to do is talk about jewelry!” Marie bellowed as she stepped away from the twins.

“Darling, I am not cheating on you. Haruhi is just a friend,” Tamaki pleaded.

“No you are not I heard every word, you are in love with her!”  The French woman shouted as Tamaki flinched stepping away from the woman who was stomping towards him.

“Marie please there is nothing going on between Tamaki and myself,” Haruhi said as she tried to calm the woman down.

“And why should I believe you? Do you think I am a fool? Well I have had enough! This farce of a relationship is off I am going back home,” Marie shouted as she turned to leave.

“Marie you know you can’t,” the natural type said firmly as she placed herself between Marie and the door.

“And why can’t I?” the blonde woman shouted as Tamaki moved next to the natural type host as she spoke.

“Because the only reason you are with Tamaki is to save your families business,”

_The entirety of the host club sat around the table in the busy restaurant as they waited on the Host club king to arrive. It was a tradition that had sprung up after they all had begun college, no matter what, whenever one of them retuned from a trip they would all together to talk about the trip and what the missing member of their group has missed in the time they were gone._

_“Well Tonto has been gone almost four months, what do you think kept him in France so long?” Hikaru asked as he took a sip of his wine glass._

_“Knowing the boss he probably got wrapped up in some girl,” Kaoru said with a laugh as he caught a flash of familiar blonde hair._

_“Guys!” Tamaki called out enthusiastically as he made his way over to the table._

_A blonde woman just a few inched shorter than the Host club king followed him closely as they neared the table. Her long blonde hair flowing in soft curls down her back ending as the top of her knees, she clutched his arm tightly as he expertly moved through the crowded dining room._

_“Guys, Haruhi. I would like you all to meet my girlfriend Marie Duval, Marie these are my friends,” Tamaki went around quickly introducing everyone with his usual flair._

_“It is a pleasure to meet you all, Rene has told me so much about you all but if you will excuse me for a moment I must find the ladies room,” the woman said as her boyfriend took a seat at the table._

_“Wait I’ll go with you,” Haruhi said as she stood and silently walked with the woman towards the bathrooms._

_As Haruhi was washing her hands Marie step out of the stall._

_“So how did you and Tamaki meet?” Haruhi asked as the sound of the water turning on filled the empty bathroom._

_“We meet at a party that my father threw,” Marie said with a small smile._

_“What does your family do?” the brunette asked as she turned off the water and dried her hands._

_“We manage hotels and restaurants,” the French woman said proudly as she looked over at the natural type host._

_“Sound exciting,” Haruhi spoke quietly._

_“What about yours?” The blonde asked as she began drying her hands._

_“My family is not in business like most of the guys, my father is a bartender and I am studying to be a lawyer,” as Haruhi spoke she notified the unhappy look that flashed in the woman’s eyes._

_An uneasy silence filled the tiled room, as the brunette tried to figure out what she wanted to ask the blond newcomer._

_“Marie are you happy being here?” the natural type asked breaking the quiet._

_“It does not matter if I am happy or not,” Marie asked plainly as she pulled out her purse and began digging in it looking for something._

_“It will matter to Tamaki,” the brunette offered as she watched the woman try and avoid looking directly at her._

_“Rene knows of my feelings and I know of his, this relationship is more of a business arrangement than anything else,” the blonde said as she pulled out a tube of lip gloss and reapplied it to her lips._

_“I find that hard to believe knowing Tamaki,” Haruhi said firmly, the fact that Marie was dodging the truth bothered her._

_After all the times that Tamaki had been there for her she didn’t want to see him get hurt because someone was simply dating him for his money._

_“Well we get along just fine but, Rene and I have made this arrangement ourselves,” Marie insisted as she finally closed the tube of lip gloss still refusing to look over at the natural type._

_“What arrangement is that?” the brunette asked her curiosity getting the better of her._

_“Neither of us can be with the people we love because they choose others,” the French woman said quietly as Haruhi’s heart began beating anxiously. ‘I am surprised she even knows that I hope Tamaki didn’t tell her about me’_ the natural type thought as she waited for the woman to continue.

_“My family made a few bad investments and we need help of a stronger corporation, Rene offered to help out my family if I agreed to be in a relationship with him. Since my other prospects weren’t very understanding about my situation I accepted his offer,” the French woman said as she finally looked over at the natural type host._

_The heart break in the blonde woman’s eyes was clear as a single tear rolled out of the blue eyes._

_“Marie,” Haruhi’s heart went out to the broken woman, the heart ache in her eyes matched that of someone else she knew._

_“It is fine he is at least kind and caring, and some day we may develop feeling for each other but I don’t think either of us will ever be able to let go of the people who are just out of our reach, at least this way both of our families are happy,” the woman said as she interrupted the natural type._

_But Haruhi couldn’t shake the feeling that the words that Marie had spoken were more for herself than for her._

Marie hissed in discomfort as she placed a hand on her head, her mind clearing she blinked as she looked up at the two people in front of her.

“Well, what is going on?” she asked plainly as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Wait you’re not going to even react to the fact that the boss is in love with Haruhi?” Hikaru screeched in surprise as he looked over at his twin in disbelief.

“I have known for quite some time that Haruhi was the girl the Tamaki loved so dearly,” Marie spoke hollowly as she stood up straighter.

It hadn’t taken that long to figure out, the second time she had meet with the host club was at a charity dinner. Half way through Tamaki had stolen Haruhi away from Kyoya for a dance.  The way that the half Frenchman looked at the girl in his arms it was rather obvious; who the Host Club King still held a torch for. It had bothered her at first given how close Tamaki was to Haruhi but upon watching the way the host club king interacted with the couple, Marie had dismissed all ill feelings.

“Marie, I…” the blonde man began but was cut off.

“I believe Haruhi owns me an explanation,” Marie said as she turned towards the natural type host.

“Actually I owe you both one,” Haruhi said softly.

The group sat in the office quietly as Haruhi told the couple the whole story, Pete filled in information on the Warehouse as needed. The two French citizens absorbed the information,

“Don’t worry I will do whatever I have too to get Mommy to remember his feelings!” The host club king shouted in determination as the three host club members shook their heads in annoyance.

“We are all staying at the Haninozuka estate while we figure everything out, but I know we need to get back there is a lot of planning that still needs done,” Kaoru said as he stood to stretch.

“Well Rene and I have somethings to discuss so we will be over there later this evening,” Marie said anxiously as she tapped a finger against the back of her opposite hand.

As the group left the couple alone and made their way out of the mansion Haruhi realized something important.

“Damn I left my purse in Tamaki’s office, I’ll be right back,” the natural type called as she raced back to the room. As she neared the door she noticed that it had not been closed all the way. As the two voices filled the otherwise silent hall

“What do you mean you’re going back to France?” Tamaki’s panicked voice cried.

Leaning over she could see in to the room and watch as the Host Club King paced back and forth, neither of the room’s occupants noticing that she was there.

“Rene do you realize that this is your chance? Kyoya doesn’t remember who Haruhi is; this is your opportunity to have her for yourself,” Marie said firmly from her place still on the couch, staring down into her lap.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the serious tone in Tamaki’s voice caused the already thick tension in the room to rise.                              

“Wrong?! If this happened to Paul before he married that girl I would have taken him back and never let go,” Marie said desperately as she began to cry.

“Yes but Paul and Haruhi are very different, Paul married that girl because he got her pregnant and Haruhi,” Tamaki spoke softly as the natural type strained to listen, watching as he handed Marie the handkerchief that was in his pocket.

“Haruhi will never love me the way I love her. I came to accept that years ago,” the host club king spoke firmly, but the heart break in is voice filled the room.

“But this is your chance to try,” Marie insisted.

A pregnant silence filled the room as Tamaki stopped pacing standing right in front of his girlfriend.

“Marie will you marry me?” he asked quietly.

Haruhi had to cover her mouth so that the gasp she couldn’t hold back would be heard.

“You’re not serious if you were you would have…..” Marie began insisting before her voice trailed off, as an open jewelry box revealed a twenty four caret diamond ring. Tamaki stood still the box in his hand as he watched his girlfriend gap at the ring.

“Rene,” Marie gasped in surprise as she looked up at the man in front of her. “I will not say anything right now,” she finally said as she looked down at the hands in her lap.

“Why not?”  Tamaki asked pain in his voice, as he closed the ring box with a snap and placed it on his desk.

“Because there is still a chance for you, whether you see it or not,” Marie said emotionlessly as she kept her position on the coach.

“Marie…” the half Frenchman began.

“Ask me again after Haruhi is married and then I will give you my answer,” the monotone response filled the silent halls.

Not being able to bear to hear anymore, Haruhi turned and ran away from the office and out of the mansion to the waiting car.

“Where is your purse?” Hikaru asked as he noticed the anxiously fidgeting that the natural type was doing.

“I’ll ask Tamaki to bring it to me later,” Haruhi said as she leaned forward to tell the driver to go back to the estate.

“But we are already here…” Hikaru began but was quickly silenced by his brother.

“Hika, leave it alone,” Kaoru said firmly as he looked over at the girl sitting in the limo staring out the window as a silent tear fell down her face.

 


	25. The Wedding Part 1

The sun rose over the tree line of the Haninozuka estate as Haruhi watched the night break away and the day begin. _I am getting married today;_ she thought slight shiver of trepidation ran up her spine at the thought as she wrapped the blanket around her tighter. The plans had been made, roles assigned, and everyone was on board. She could hear the soft snores of her friends coming from the living room on the other side of the open door. After the plans had been made the host club boys had demanded that they all spend the night together, looking over her shoulder he mind momentarily flashed back and saw each boy as he had looked when she first met them. A small chuckle escaped her mouth as she watched the rising sun fill her with a mixture of happiness, anxiety, and fear.

* * *

 

Kyoya watched the sun begin is rise from the window of his hotel room, his bags were packed and sitting near the door waiting for him to leave. The last few days he had done nothing but try to figure out what was going on. Facts didn’t line up, statistics seemed off, and any truth he was sure of seemed false. The only thing he was certain of was that in a few hours he would be married, the only question that still remained was to whom.

* * *

 

“ **Alright let’s go over the plan one more time before we leave,** ” Honey said firmly as the group gathered together in the Living room.

“ **The devil twins and I are still groomsmen so we will make sure to keep Kyoya’s brothers at bay,”** Tamaki said, as the twins stood behind him coiling up several lengths of rope smirking mischievously.

“ **Pete and I will make sure that Haruhi gets in to the house, and get her to Kyoya,** ” Myka said as Pete placed a reassuring hand on the natural type host.

“ **But we still haven’t figured that part out; I would bet money on the fact that Jun has guards that have been instructed to keep me out** ,” Haruhi said nervously, it was getting closer and closer to the wedding and every moment that passed just made the natural type more and more anxious.

“ **Never fear your favorite hacker has the solution,** ” Claudia said proudly as she held out a small tin thimble.

“ **Claude, how did you get that from Artie**?” Pete asked as he raised his eyebrows in question.

“ **How is a thimble going to help?** ” Hikaru asked annoyed before the American could answer.

“ **Because this is no ordinary Thimble** ,” Claudia said as she placed the thimble on her finger and after ten seconds her body shifted and all of a sudden there were two Haruhi’s looking at each other as several shocked gasped filled the room.

“What in the world!?” Ranka exclaimed as he walked in to the room find two identical people who looked like his precious daughter, one was smirking and the other was looking at her mirror image in amazement. Everything was identical even the clothes the doppelgangers were wearing was the same.

“ **This…** ” Cluadia said as she held up her hand revealing the thimble covered finger, though her voice was the same. “ **is Harriot Tubman’s thimble** ,” she spoke as she removed the object and her appearance shifted back again. “ **It refracts the light around a person to allow them to take on the image of any one they want.** ”

Haruhi took the thimble and placed it on her finger suddenly her image changed to Jun’s.

“ **Well isn’t that the solution? Why not just let Haruhi marry Kyoya like that?** ” Hikaru asked as he looked over at his twin.

“ **No, when I marry Kyoya, I will be myself and so will he,** ” she said as she removed the thimble her appearance changing back to normal.

“ **What about the Sohmas?** ” Kaoru asked as he held three different garment bags in his arms.

“ **Once Kyoya has his memory back, we will deal with them,** ” Haruhi said venomously as she turned to walk out of the room, while everyone else seemed rooted in place.

“ **Do you all need and invitation?** ” the natural type asked over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

“ **You heard the bride, let’s move out!** ” Honey shouted as he grabbed his wife’s hand and ran towards the door.

* * *

 

“Kyoya, I trust that the trip went well,” Mr. Sohma greeted the Ootori as he walked out of the plane on to the small platform that was attached to a set of movable stairs.

The crew was quickly unloading the plane as the elder man fidgeted on the tarmac waiting for the Ootori heir to finish stepping off of the stairs.

“You could say that the problems fixed themselves,” the Shadow king spoke as he eyed the man who had been waiting for him.

_He looks rather nervous,_ Kyoya thought as he walked towards the waiting limo as Mr. Sohma spoke absent mindedly. He had spent the entire flight trying to figure out the mess he seemed to have found himself in, but even after several hours he was still no closer to a solution. The two men got in the limo but as soon as the door closed Kyoya looked up and found an unexpected occupant in the limo.

“Fuyumi!?” Kyoya asked.

“Sorry little brother,” she said as she raised an odd looking gun.

A surge of electricity flew from the clear tubed barrel hitting both Kyoya and Mr. Sohma, leaving both men unconscious. Looking over her brother’s appearance she couldn’t find what she was looking for. Fumbling through both men’s pockets she still came up empty.

“Shit!” She cursed as she pulled out her phone.

Fuyumi was supposed to neutralize the flower and then once Kyoya arrived at the beach house, she was to take him to his room, the one where his and Haruhi’s relationship began.  But without the flower the plans needed changing and fast. Waiting for the line to pick up she secured both her brother and Mr. Sohma as the phone continued to ring.

“Haruhi, it’s not on him, the flower is missing and it’s not on Mr. Sohma either!” Fuyumi shouted slightly panicking as soon as the line picked up not waiting for the natural type to speak.

“Well that’s because I have it,” A sinister voice filled the speaker the Fuyumi knew didn’t belong to anyone in the group.

“Where is Haruhi?” Fuyumi asked as her body ran cold.

The number she had called was Haruhi’s personal cell; it never was out of the natural types’ sight.

 “She is indisposed at the moment,” the voice cooed viciously as the Ootori hear a thud from outside of the limo.

Turning around she found a gun pointed at her head as dread began to wash over her body.

“Now I kindly ask that you kindly allow my fiancée and father to go, after all the wedding is to begin in a little over an hour.”

* * *

 

Haruhi sat in the back of a moving van; her hands cuffed behind her back a gag around her mouth. Looking over she saw Pete and Claudia still knocked out and Myka was just beginning to wake. Everything had been going according to plan, the guys got back to the room okay and signaled that Kyoya’s brothers had been handled,  the plane was landing right on time, the four of them had gotten in to the house fine, but that is when everything had gone up in smoke.

Jun had been waiting for them; a bright flash filled the room and knocked them all out. Haruhi was the first to come to as her guards were cuffing her hand behind her back. Haruhi lunged at Jun but three of the guards held her back as she looked up in horror at the small glass flower that sat in the girl’s hair. She could feel her phone vibrate and knew it was Fuyumi. Hearing the buzzing Jun reached down a pulled the phone out of Haruhi’s pocket and answered the phone.

Haruhi struggled desperately to escape as she felt the guard pulling her away. As she was begin dragged out of the house she saw both Reiko and Hanna sitting in a room that had guards surrounding it. Hanna was cowering behind Reiko tears streaking down her face as the Haninozuka bride covered her small bump with her arms. Still fighting against the guard she cried out in pain as she was flung in to the back of a van as he cuffed hands were tied to a bar that ran along the wall. Looking over she saw as the Americans were suffering the same fate.

“Don’t worry,” Jun’s voice filled the space as Haruhi looked over at the girl. “You and your friends will be released as soon as the wedding is over, of course by then it will be too late,” the woman laughed smugly as the van doors were slammed shut as Haruhi felt the engine roar to life. 

They had been driving for about fifteen minutes; all the while the natural type host had been struggling against the cuffs. She could feel the raw pain around her wrist but it did nothing to stop the despite need she had to stop the wedding.  Hearing the sound of muffled speech she looked over to see that Myka was now fully awake and kicking a snoring Pete.

In the process she had woken Claudia as well; the four looked at each other as Haruhi continued to struggle against the restrains.  Looking up she saw as Pete and Myka were turned back to back and after a few moments they broke apart their hands now unbound. Quickly Myka stood and walked over to Haruhi pulling the cloth off of her mouth as she turned so that her own bindings could be undone.

“ **We have to get out of here,** ” Haruhi said quietly trying not to panic.

“ **Don’t worry Warehouse agents always have contingency plans** ,” Myka said reassuringly as the natural type could feel the rope around her wrist finally loosen.

“ **No Myka that’s just you,** ” Pete said firmly as he untied Claudia.

“ **Now is not the time Pete** ,” Myka growled as Haruhi finally was freed.

Standing up the natural type walked over towards the back door looking out of the small window she watched as trees seemed the fly past the van as it continued to speed down the dirt road.

“ **Haruhi, here** ” Claudia said as she handed the natural type a sliver bag and a purple glove.

Nodding her head she took it, tucking it in to the belt of the dress the twins had shoved her in this morning.

“ **So what is the plan?** ” the natural type asked as she saw Pete motion to Myka silently but the woman seemed to grasp what her partner was inferring.

“ **Simple we distract the guards, and you go stop this wedding,** ” Pete spoke as he and Myka moved towards the wall that divided the front from the back.

“ **And how are you going to do that?** ”  Haruhi asked but no one answered as both Pete and Myka swung in to action.

The duo took out a Swiss army knife and quickly cut a hole in the dividing wall and sprang forward. The van all of a sudden jerked to the left as Haruhi felt the vehicle crash into what she guessed was a nearby tree. As Claudia pulled the strange box out of her left boot and pulled out a lock picking kit. Touching the box to the doors they unlocked and the redhead pushed them open with ease.

“ **Come on Fujioka let’s get the lead out**!” Claudia screamed as pulled the natural type with her out the back of the van.

The two began running through the forest as soon the sound of neighing could be heard to the left. Looking over there was a horse drawn carriage waiting on the small road, the driver looked over at the girls.

“I am looking for the Ootori estate and I got a bit lost could you give me directions?” the driver asked.

“Actually I can take you there,” Haruhi said as the two girls climbed in Claudia in the back as the natural type got in up front and took the reins in her hand.

“Have you ever driven a carriage before?” the driver asked as he was pushed in to the back with the American.

“Once,” Haruhi said as she snapped the reins and the horses took off at top speed down the dirt road.

 


	26. The Wedding Part 2

Kyoya stood at the altar, the officiate standing on his left. The twins and Tamaki stood next to him, but something was off. Not only were his brothers not there but Tamaki was twitching rather obviously, the way he always did when he was attempting to hide something, and the one of the twins was trying to calm the half French man. While the other who he guessed was Hikaru, was glaring at the man standing next to Emma who looked overly anxious. Both Honey and Takashi were off to the side arguing with Mr. Sohma who somehow managed to look both smug and freighted as the Haninozuka heir was being obviously held back by his cousin, who was harshly scowling at the man.  Looking into the crowd he saw his father glare disapprovingly at him.

He didn’t know how he got to the estate. He remembered the plane landing and then the next thing he remembered he was sitting in the dressing room hearing a knock on the door calling him to the site, two hours of the day had seemed to disappear.

The sound of the orchestra filled the beach as he watched the bridesmaids begin their march down the aisle, as the last turned the corner it was hard to not notice the absence of his sister from the group.  As the melody of the wedding march began a sense of dread filled the Shadow King as Jun began to walk down the aisle.

_“Never forget that no matter what happens at the wedding, this marriage is about you and I,”_ Haruhi’s voice filled his head as it both calmed him and angered him.

Before he could move to do anything though the boisterous sound of a horse neighing could be heard in the background as a carriage came into view. The natural type host held hard on to the reins as she pushed the horses to their limits. As they neared the ceremony space Jun growled in frustration slamming her bouquet on to the ground and turned to walk back up the aisle. Kyoya followed halfway up but stopped at the sight of Haruhi, leaping form the still moving carriage to tackle the woman in the wedding gown.

The self-defense that had been drilled in to the natural type host by both Honey and Takashi came in handy as she easily over took the girl and reaching down in to her hair pulling out a single glass flower.

“Claudia!” Haruhi called as the red headed American jumped out of the carriage wearing a purple glove on one hand and a silver bag in the other.

“No!” Jun shouted as she knocked in to Haruhi’s out stretched hand causing the small flower to sail through the air land just under the hoof of one of the horses as it rose up on its hind legs and came down hard on top of the delicate flower smashing it to bits.

“No!” Haruhi cried in desperation as she released Jun from her hold as the driver moved the horses away from the ceremony sight.

Reaching down Haruhi gently picked up the smashed pieces of the flower off of the small coble stone path that had been placed there for the wedding, trying not to sob in frustration. Kyoya once again began to move up the aisle towards the natural type host wanting nothing more than to ease her pain, as Jun began to laugh.

“You see it’s all over, there is nothing you can do he’s mine!” she shouted while laughing.

“You’re wrong,” Haruhi said softly as she looked down at the shimmering bits of broken glass a single strand of brown hair resting with in the shards.

“And why is that? Because you need him?” Jun mocked as Kyoya stood directly behind the cruel woman.

Haruhi bit back tears as she shook her head and spoke.

“Because he needs me,”

_‘”Go!” Kyoya shouted as he pointed in the direction of the horse drawn carriage._

_Standing between Haruhi and his personal police force that had changed loyalty. He could see her quickly jump in the carriage grabbing the reins. Turning around the indecision she had run across her face in a moment, soon to be gone and replaced by determination as she ordered the horses forward.’_

_Kyoya sat in the middle of the rose maze as he poured over the figures in the books. It was the last day of school and he desperately wanted to get the Host Clubs accounting done but the memory of the fair kept plaguing him. He had let her go but the retention of her running after Tamaki stung more than he cared to mention, and having to sit near the half French man in class was proving to be rather distracting. It was taking everything he had not to scream in fury as he watched the two interact._

_“Kyoya,” Haruhi’s soft voice filled the air and it made his heart stop._

_He tried not to obsess over the fact that she had not used the honor fic when speaking his name, and how elated that had made him._

_“There you are,” she said fondly as she sat down next to him._

_“What can I do for you?” Kyoya spoke evenly as he felt his heart pound like a drum line in his chest._

_“Well I was hoping that I could speak to you,” she said almost shyly._

_“About what?” he said trying to keep his focus on his computer and no the girl sitting next to him._

_“Kyoya please put that away,” Haruhi asked as she pointed to the laptop._

_“I have to finish this Haruhi; shouldn’t you be off with your boyfriend?” he said inwardly cringing at the amount of jealousy that was in his voice._

_“I don’t have a boyfriend…” the words that she whispered filled him with unfounded glee as he looked over at the girl sitting next to him._

_“But I thought…” he said softly afraid to even finish the sentence._

_“Tamaki –sempai may like me but I don’t like him in the same way, I like someone else,” the natural type said firmly but he could sense the nervousness that rang under her voice._

_“Who?”_

_She didn’t answer with words she leaned forwards and placed her lips gently on his, the pure joy that he felt over flowed as he wrapped his arms around the distracting girl who had somehow managed to worm her way in to his world without even trying. Sighing in contentment he begrudgingly broke contact with her lips and placed his forehead against hers not wanting to completely let her go just yet._

_“I don’t deserve you,” he said quietly, as he heart began to race as she captured his face in her hands forcing him to look directly at her._

_“No, but you need me,”_

Kyoya’s eye widened slightly as the last of the fog began to clear from his mind. Looking between the two girls his decision was clear. Stepping around Jun he knelt near Haruhi and spoke.

“Just as much as you need me,” finishing the sentence that had brought them back together all those years ago.

Gasping in surprise she turned around to find her fiancé right behind her,

“Kyoya?”

“While I would like a full explanation as to what has been going on for the last week. I would much rather send the day marring you,” He said firmly as he pulled the natural type in his arms as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

The jubilant sounds of the host club shouting filled the otherwise confused guest. Kyoya chuckled as for the first time in a week he no longer had any doubts about his life.  He could feel the tears falling from her eyes and running down past the collar of his shirt as she sobbed in relief.

“No this can’t be happening!” Jun shouted in furry as two of Kyoya’s personal body guards appeared next to the girl holding her back as she lunged towards the couple.

Haruhi uncurled herself from her fiancé as she looked up at the girl. The strange necklace she wore shimmering. Gasping in surprise she leapt out of Kyoya’s arms and in one swift motion pulled her own bag out of the belt of the dress she was wearing as she ripped the pearl necklace off of Jun’s throat shoving it in the bag; as the jewelry made contact with the lining, large sparks flashed brightly as everyone turned their heads to avoid being blinded. Haruhi felt a pair of hands help her close the bag as it continued to spark. 

Looking over Haruhi saw that Jun was all of a sudden slumped against the two men who were still holding her.  Claudia reached into the bag with the purple gloved hand and pulled out the necklace. A long string of pearls which held one charm a gold letter B which had three tear drop pearls suspended form it.

“ **How did you know?** ” the red head asked as she looked at the natural type host.

“ **I recall seeing several paintings of this necklace in my studies; I think it belonged to Anne Boleyn,** ” the natural type said as she looked down at the artifact.

“ **Who?** ” the American asked as she placed the necklace back in the bag, making sure it was sealed tight.

“ **Anne Boleyn was once married to Henry the eighth, she was the reason that England broke off from the Roman Catholic Church. But what does that have to do with anything?** ” Kyoya said as Jun grunted in discomfort.

“Hmm, what’s going on?” she asked as she began looking around her eyes widening as she saw the necklace in the silver bag, soon panic began to race across her face. “Oh no, what has my father done now?” she asked as she looked over at Kyoya and Haruhi.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” the natural type asked. 

Jun placed her hand against her forehead as she silently began digging through a mental fog trying to find the memory of the last time she knew for sure she was in control of her own body.

“I remember my father ranting about Kyoya choosing to marry a commoner instead of me. I tried to tell him to forget it but then everything is a blank. Please you have to believe me, whatever I have done it was that necklace’s fault,” Jun pleaded as she kept her gaze on the two hosts who stood in front of her.

“I do,” Haruhi said as Jun breathed a sigh of relief,

“Well isn’t this just precious,” a sinister voice called as the group turned to see who had spoken.

“Father,” Jun called out as her father stood where the horse drawn carriage once was.

“I must say you are more trouble than your mother ever was,” the man spat at Haruhi as anger filled his face.

“My mother?” the brunette asked in confusion as she stepped away from the group, but as she did something felt off.

“But no matter I feel it is rather fitting that you share the same fate,” Mr. Sohma sneered as he reached in to his pocket pulling out an antique pocket watch.

As he pointed the artifact at Haruhi as dread and panic filled her body there was a sudden blur that passed between the natural type host and her would be attacker and tackled the man to the ground causing the watch to roll half way down the aisle.

“Mr. Ito?” the natural type gasped in shock as she watched her boss pin Mr. Sohma to the ground very roughly as he reached in to his back pockets pulling out a pair of hand cuffs.

“Katsu Sohma, you are under arrest for fraud, corporate thief, endangerment of a child, and the murder of Kotoko Fujioka,” the lawyer sneered in satisfaction as the click of the cuffs filled the otherwise silent beach.

“What’s going on?” Kyoya roared as he watched Haruhi fall to her knees trembling.

_“Endangerment of a child, and the murder of Kotoko Fujioka,_ ” Mr. Ito’s words rang in Haruhi’s head as the story her father had told her popped in to her mind, one thought filled her overly taxed mind, _His fault, it’s his fault!_ Walking up behind his fiancé, Kyoya scooped her out of the sand helping her stand on her shaky legs.

“You can’t prove anything, that bitch’s death was ruled a medical complication,” Mr. Sohma spat as he struggled against the man who was trying to force him to stand.

“ **William Osler’s watch, I should have known,** ” A familiar voice called as Haruhi whipped her head around to see Mrs. Fredric sanding in the middle of the aisle the watch in her gloved hand.

“Mrs. Fredric,” Mr. Ito bowed his head as he finally got the struggling man to his feet.

“ **Hayate, if you will kindly let my agents help** ,” the woman spoke as Haruhi noticed Pete and Myka stand on either side of the restrained man grabbing an arm each.

“ **You will never be able to get this through a court** ,” Mr. Sohma shouted as the two Americans picked him up just enough so his feet wouldn’t touch the ground.

“ **You killed a Regent, we won’t be going through a court** ,” Myka said firmly.

“ **Yeah I have a good feeling you’re going to look great in bronze** ,” Pete growled as they carried the man off to a waiting car.

“Mrs. Fredric,” Ranka’s voice filled the air as he walked up next to the American.

“ **Don’t worry Ranka, he will be placed in the bronze sector, you have my word,** ” Mrs. Fredric said as she placed a hand on to her father’s shoulder.

“Dad?” Haruhi asked as she looked over her shoulder at her dad.

“ **Sweetheart the bronze sector is for people whose removal from society had to be certain,** ” he said quietly as he was fighting back tears.

“ **Why?** ” the natural type asked as she looked between her father and the American.

“ **The people in the bronze sector would have made Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini look like bickering school girls** ,” Claudia said as she turned and followed after her colleagues. 

As the car dove off a sense of relief filled Haruhi for the first time in a week.

“Now that all of this is over with can we please move on with the ceremony?” Kyoya asked as he wrapped his arms around the natural type host.

“Eager aren’t we?” Haruhi chuckled as she looked up at her fiancée’s face.

“More so than you could ever imagine,” he said calmly as he buried his nose in to her hair.

“Well I have to go change,” the natural type said as she tried to pull away but Kyoya hold on the girl tightened.

“No, you are not leaving my sight until we are married. After what I have just seen, there is a good chance you’ll be kidnapped if I let you go,” he said firmly as he once again pressed her against is body.

“Kyoya,” she warned but the smile that spread across her face was proof enough that she was more than happy with the arraignment.

“I will not send another moment of my life away from you,” he vowed as he gently placed his forehead against her’s.

“Promise?” she asked quietly.

“I do,” he whispered in her ear.

“And I will never have another man stand beside me,” the natural type vowed gazing in to her lover’s eyes.

“Promise?” he begged softly.

“I do,” she said firmly as Kyoya smiled brightly.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride,” the officiate said neither had noticed that he had moved to be standing in front of them as they spoke their vows to each other.

As Kyoya’s lips met Haruhi’s the crowd began applauding but at the altar, the twins were leaning on each other and crying.

“Hika-chan, Koa-chan what’s wrong?” Honey asked as he held on tightly to his wife, one hand placed gently on her midsection.

As it had turned out before coming to assist in Mr. Sohma’s containment, Pete and Myka had freed both Rieko and Hanna. Who at the moment was off in the corner with her husband as he comforted his wife.

“She is not wearing our dress,” they sobbed in unison. 

The entirety of the Host club laughed at the twins antics as the newly wedded coupled finally broke apart to greet their gusts.

 


	27. And They Lived Happily Ever After

“Please help me welcome the new Mr. and Mrs. Ootori!” the conductor of the twelve piece orchestra called as Haruhi and her new husband  walked back out to the beach that had just been transformed  form the ceremony to the  reception. Fire flickered from tall wooden poles that were buried in the sand, tables and chairs covered in cream colored linen filled the beach with guest standing near most of them, covered by sheer tents that you could see the stars through. A dance floor had been put together sitting in the center of the wide circle of tables.

Haruhi was pulled near the dance floor by her husband, lifting up the skirt of her wedding gown so it didn’t drag in the sand too much. Once they had reached the center of the floor Kyoya swung her around pulling her close to his body and pulled her in for a kiss.

Looking around the natural type host smiled brightly at the cluster of old and new friends that crowded around two tables, soon she felt a strange presence behind her turning around but staying in Kyoya’s arms she was startled by who was behind her.

“ **Mrs. Fredric** ,” Haruhi said startled.

“ **Haruhi, I just wanted to congratulate you both on getting married** ,” the woman said with a soft smile.

“ **Thank you, who are you?** ” Kyoya asked as he pulled his bride closer to him.

“ **I was an associate of Kotoko, I know that she would have been so proud of you,** ” Mrs. Frederic said nodding to Haruhi as a slight tear streaked down the natural types face.

“ **Thank you,** ” Haruhi said as her attention was drawn elsewhere, momentarily but as she turned back to say something more she found that the American had somehow disappeared.

“Where did she go?” Haruhi asked as she looked around for the woman she was just speaking too.

“You’ll have to get used to that Mrs. Fredric has been doing that for a while,” Mr. Ito said as he walked up to the happy couple.  “Now if your husband wouldn’t mind, my I have this dance?” he asked with a bow.

Kyoya nodded his head as he let go of his bride. Haruhi placed her hands in to her bosses as they started to move around on the floor.

“So, all this time you never told me that you knew my mom,” Haruhi began almost as soon as she was in her boss’s arms.

“I could never figure how to bring it up, besides I figured the less you knew about me and your mother the safer you would be,” the man said as he gently moved with her around the floor expertly maneuvering them around the other couples.

“But you hired me,” it wasn’t a question; after she had gone to change in to her wedding gown the thought crossed her mind. Her boss and her mother were partners and know him as well as she did it was not a coincidence that he had hired her.

“Yes well, before she died she made me promise to look after you and your father. I tried to help support you both initially but Ryoji would have it. So when I heard you had applied to Ouran I called up the chairman and offered to fund your scholarship,” he spoke softly.

“Wait you were the one…” the natural type began but was interrupted.

“Make no mistake you deserved that scholarship, but the school only offered a partial unless a student could find a backer, so I stepped in.  Then when I saw you at my birthday party, it was like looking at your Mother’s ghost. I almost didn’t speak to you. But then I heard from one of my clients that you wanted to be a lawyer and I knew Kotoko would never forgive me if I didn’t help you reach your goals,” He said fondly as the memory of that night came back to him.

“Well thank you I am very grateful,” Haruhi said as he lead her over to her friends.

“There is one thing I need you to do for me,” Mr. Ito said quietly.

“What is that?” The natural type asked as she looked over as saw as her friends where all interacting together, a soft smile on her lips as one thought crossed her mind. _They are the same people I meet all those years ago._

“I have a stash of artifacts that need taken back to the Warehouse, I would do it but since Mr. Sohma is finally being brought to justice I have decided to retire form the Warehouse,” the man said pulling Haruhi from her thoughts.

“The house in Adachi? That was you?” the natural type asked in surprise.

“Yes, after I broke ties with the Warehouse, so that way I could solely focus on capturing that despicable man, I had no way of reaching Mrs. Fredric. So I bought a farm on the outside of Adachi, and built a mini Warehouse in a sense. It allowed me to safely store any artifacts that I came across in my pursuit,” Mr. Ito said as he waved to someone behind her.

“How many is a few?” Haruhi asked.

“Several hundred,” reaching in to his pocket he pulled out two flash drives that Haruhi hadn’t seen before but they looked like they would fit in to the back of the foam at the office. “These flash drives contain the research on all of the artifacts in Adachi, as well as where I found them and all the information I had on the artifact’s I knew Sohma had in his possession,”  Mr. Ito said as he hand the two drives to the natural type host.

“Why are you giving them to me?” she asked as she placed them in the pocket of her gown.

“Because, I expect that like your mother. You won’t be able to know about artifacts without try to protect the populace from them,” her boss said with a chuckle as he walked off.

“Oh and Fujioka,” he called as Haruhi turned around to look at her boss. “I expect to see you in the office in two weeks,” he said with a smile.

“So am I going to be able to spend any time with my won wife during our reception?” Kyoya asked as he wrapped his arms around his bride.

“What are we going to do about the guests they saw too much and the Warehouse is supposed to be a secret,” Haruhi mussed out loud.

“Honey said that he and Reiko would take care of that, but in the mean time you still owe me an explanation,” the Shadow King whispered in her ear sending an excited shiver down the natural type host’s spine.

“Well it all began the day after my birthday party…”

* * *

 

A loud ringing woke Haruhi with a start. Jolting up in bed she felt two strong arms grip her naked waist as she groaned in frustration at the incessant sound.

“Kyoya I thought we agreed no phones during our honeymoon,” the natural type whined as she laid back down, the two masculine arms pulling her closer to their owner’s body.

“No mine,” he growled in anger.

“Well it’s not min….” Haruhi stopped talking as she soon recognized the metallic ring, “Damn it!” she shouted as she rolled out of bed looking for a robe.

“I want my wife back in this bed!” the Shadow King shouted as  he leaned up on his arms glaring at the now covered woman as she dug through her bags looking for the annoying device.

Finding the small box she opened it and the relentless sound finally ending.

“ **Artie it’s my honeymoon and it six o’clock in the morning what could you possibly want!?** ” Haruhi growled at the man on the screen.

“ **There is a ping not too far from where you are,** ” the man said not paying attention to the pissed off nature of the woman’s response.

“ **Can’t Pete and Myka do it?”** the natural type asked as she felt her husband move the hair on her neck and press his lips along the newly exposed skin.

“ **No they are in India dealing with a Guru,** ” Atrie said shaking his head.

“ **What about Claudia?** ”  Haruhi asked as she felt Kyoya pull her into his lap.

“ **Still in Adachi with Mrs. Fredric securing the house** ,” the American said as he blinked blankly at the sight.

“ **Can’t it wait**?” Haruhi asked with a gasp as Kyoya bite down on her pulse point as she felt the need of her new husband grow against her back.

“ **Oh sure, I mean who knows what this artifact is or what it does. I mean the inevitable ramifications of it lying around are limitless, but yes it can wait while you shtook your husband!** ” Artie shouted in anger causing Kyoya to grumble in annoyance as he released his wife and went to go get dressed.

“ **Fine, send the information, but if this takes more than two hours you’ll be sorry,”** Haruhi growled as she relented.

“ **Well I am sending you the information now, oh and remember** ,” Artie said happily as Haruhi closed the box as she said in annoyance.

“ **Yeah yeah I know Snag it, bag it, and tag it.** ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who had followed and or read this story. I never thought I would be able to pull this story off when the idea came to me but over these last few months I have had so much fun writing it. I will say that though this story is complete I do have a squeal in mind. currently I am focused on another story but I do have the basic plot decided for it. when I post the first chapter I will make sure to leave a not on this story. As always thanks again for reading.


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